Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Rafael Nadal swept into the quarter-finals of the Italian Open on Thursday with a ruthless 6-4, 6-1 victory over Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov. The top seed, who will reclaim the world number one ranking from Roger Federer if he wins his eighth title in Rome, turned in a near-flawless performance, losing only five service points as he honed in on victory in an hour and 22 minutes.
Naomi Osaka eased into the second round of the Italian Open on Monday with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over former world number one Victoria Azarenka, on a day in which local favourite Roberta Vinci called time on her career.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
'I've played injured most of the year -- whether it was my elbow, my knee, or in the finals moments after a certain match in Flushing, my heart' 'I'm a fierce competitor and I want to compete as well as I can, for as long as I can'
Afghanistan registered a thumping 202 runs victory over New Zealand to move into the Super League semi-finals of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Christchurch on Thursday.
Olympic champion Andy Murray restored some order at the Western & Southern Open by cutting down South African giant Kevin Anderson to reach the quarter-finals on an upset-filled Thursday in Cincinnati.
Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro came back from a dreadful first set to defeat Venus Williams.
The Scot lost 6-4, 6-4 to Richard Gasquet in his first singles match since January before saying he had turned down a wild card into the men's draw at the year's final Grand Slam.
She is the second Swiss player to win the tournament after Martina Hingis won the inaugural edition in 2001.
The daughter of two lawyers and a former waitress received their last orders at the Wimbledon on Tuesday when Madison Keys and Timea Bacsinszky missed out on a great opportunity to set up a semi-final date.
Germany's Alexander Zverev won the battle of the young guns against Denis Shapovalov on Saturday to set up a Madrid Open final against Austria's Dominic Thiem.
The peak remains tantalisingly close for Serena Williams but negotiating the final incline to a record-equalling 22nd Grand Slam singles title is proving the trickiest of all.
Challengers to Serena Williams' throne have proved as fickle as a Paris spring and as the year's second grand slam starts the veteran American is again seemingly in a league of her own. The 34-year-old's charge to overhaul Margaret Court's record 24 grand slam singles titles may have stalled since she chalked up major number 21 at last year's Wimbledon. But after fine-tuning her claycourt game by winning last week's Italian Open she will begin the defence of her French Open title as the strong favourite. With twice French Open champion Maria Sharapova suspended pending the findings of an anti-doping hearing after she tested positive for Meldonium in Australia this year, the list of players capable of toppling a fully firing Williams is short.
For the first time this week Novak Djokovic needed only two sets to triumph at theRome Masters, beating Spain's David Ferrer 6-4, 6-4 as he reached the final to close in on a 24th Masters 1000 title. The world number one, who is chasing a fourth title in the event, next meets Roger Federer, who knocked out fellow-Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-2.
Roger Federer rallied from a set down to beat Moldovan surprise package Radu Albot 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in a stuttering start to the 20-times Grand Slam champion's Miami Open campaign on Saturday.
Russian sixth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova claimed her third title of the year by beating seventh-seeded Australian Daria Gavrilova in the final of the Hong Kong Tennis Open on Sunday.
World No 1 Serena Williams smashed a racquet and recovered from a set down as she overcame stubborn resistance from Caroline Wozniacki in a semi-final at the WTA Finals last week. It was not the first time the world No 1 abused her playing equipment. Take a look at previous moments when she soaked up her frustration on court by smashing her racket.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic recovered from another slow start to beat Spain's David Ferrer.
Caroline Wozniacki talked on Sunday of her horror and sadness at the shootings in Denmark.
Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams face challenging early tests at the US Open following Friday's draws for the year's last Grand Slam starting on Monday.
Sixth seed Andy Murray may feel the most aggrieved of the top contenders in the men's draw.
Serena Williams played with fire at the French Open on Thursday but the world number one pulled through to the third round with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 win against unheralded German Anna-Lena Friedsam.
Serena faces hard-hitting Giorgi in first round while former World No Hewitt play his final grand slam
Reigning champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have been named top seeds for the Australian Open starting on Monday.
Former Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka began her warm-up to the first Grand Slam of the year in convincing fashion with a 6-2,6-0 win over Russian Elena Vesnina in their first round match at the Brisbane International on Monday.
Thursday's match was just Venus Williams's seventh of the year and first since January's Australian Open, where she fell to Simona Halep in the round of 32.
Rafael Nadal was made to wait before his second-round Rogers Cup match due to several rain delays but did his part to put the schedule back on track with a speedy 6-2 6-3 win over Frenchman Benoit Paire on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday.
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are top seeds at the major starting Monday
Factbox on Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, who announced her retirement from tennis at 28 after a second round loss at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati on Wednesday.
Since that moment, Maria Sharapova has looked virtually unbeatable
For the second straight year Serena Williams saw her bid for a seventh U.S. Open title halted in the semi-finals with a 6-2 7-6(5) loss to Karolina Pliskova on Thursday that also ended her long reign as world number one.
Andy Murray is more afraid of losing his wedding ring than a tennis match these days but that did not stop him from storming to a 10th successive win on clay at the Rome Masters on Wednesday.
American qualifier Sachia Vickery completed an astonishing comeback to stun third seed Garbine Muguruza 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 in a second-round win at the BNP Paribas Open in California on Friday.
Anderson is the first South African in New York's last 16 since Wayne Ferreira in 2002.
The upset left only three of the top 10 seeds still alive in the year's final Grand Slam - number one Serena Williams, who is seeking the fourth women's calendar-year Grand Slam, second seed Simona Halep and fifth seed Petra Kvitova.
Russia, last year's runners-up, were unable to call on world number six Maria Sharapova who was injured
Big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic made a strong return to competition on Friday by beating Viktor Troicki 6-3, 7-5 to reach the third round of the Miami Open.
Roger Federer doubts he is playing his 'best ever' tennis but is convinced that at 33, he is playing smarter and taking better care of himself as he looks to win a fifth Australian Open title.
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