The world number one survived an almighty scare from 1,078th-ranked Takao Suzuki before battling his way into the semi-finals of the Japan Open.
Roger Federer beat defending champion Wesley Moodie 6-2, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals in Tokyo.
Boniface Prabhu would take part in a series of international tournaments with support from sponsors
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal says the Glasgow World Championship made her realise that she needs to work harder on her stamina and beat tougher players to regain her place among badminton's top-10.
The eighth seeded Indian teenager beat qualifier Vilmarie Castellvi of Puerto Rico to set up a meeting with local hope Aiko Nakamura at the Japan Open.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
A ruthless Sorana Cirstea took full advantage of Karolina Pliskova's patchy form at the China Open on Thursday, reaching the quarter-finals as she consigned the recently dethroned world number one to a 6-1, 7-5 defeat.
Nicole Vaidisova won the Japan Open after France's Tatiana Golovin was forced to retire with a leg injury
The 18-year-old thrashed Aiko Nakamura of Japan 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of the Japan Open.
Sania Mirza will begin her campaign at the Japan Open against qualifier Vilmarie Castellvi of Puerto Rico
Wimbledon Champion Maria Sharapova overcame Mashona Washington 6-0 6-1 to claim the Japan Open.
The Bangalore-based lad won the doubles title in the 2005 Japan Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships.
American Robby Ginepri moved easily into the Japan Open quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Luxemburg's Gilles Muller on Thursday.
In sizzling form after clinching the China Open and finishing runners-up at Hong Kong, Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu will look to sign off the year with another crown when she competes in the season-ending World Superseries Finals starting in Dubai from Wednesday. In Rio de Janeiro, Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win an Olympics silver medal in August, but qualifying for the Dubai World Super Series final still was a far cry as she was placed at 16th in the Destination Dubai Rankings with just two events -- China Open and Hong Kong Open -- remaining.
A much-anticipated second round meeting of India's top two women shuttlers, world No 1 Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu, failed to materiliaze as the latter came a cropper in her opening match at the Japan Open Super Series badminton tournament, in Tokyo, on Wednesday.
Home favourite Kei Nishikori defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-6(2), 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Japan Open on Saturday, setting up a final against Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev.
Ajay Jayaram suffered a shock first round defeat to lower-ranked Chinese Yuekun Chen in the China Masters in Changzhou on Thursday.
The third seed Thai was two points away from defeat against close friend Lee Hyung-taik at the Japan Open.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
Australia's Sam Stosur fought back from a set down to claim the Japan Open for a second time on Sunday and deny Canadian teenager Eugenie Bouchard her first WTA title.
Top seed Juan Martin del Potro beat Nicolas Almagro of Spain 7-6(7), 7-6(1) in the semi-final of the Japan Open on Saturday to set up a title clash with big-serving Milos Raonic of Canada.
P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth scored contrasting victories to enter the quarter-finals of the US $120,000 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, in Penang, on Thursday.
Australian Nick Kyrgios caused more on-court controversy in his defeat by unseeded German Mischa Zverev at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday with a listless performance that could land him in trouble with the ATP.
India ace Kidmabi Srikanth clinched his third Super Series Premier title with a dominating straight-game victory over Korean veteran Lee Hyun II in a lop-sided final of the US $750,000 Denmark Open, in Odense, on Sunday.
World Championship silver-medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal is aiming to remain injury-free and excel in all the Super Series tournaments in the run up to next year's Rio Olympics.
The biggest upset of the day was produced by Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi, who knocked out Olympic champion and last year's finalist Carolina Marin 21-12, 21-19, in a 48-minute clash.
The 19-year-old beat the Japanese wildcard 6-2, 6-2 to set up a showdown with former US Open champion Sam Stosur, who downed American teenager Madison Keys 6-1, 6-2 in the other semi at the $250,000 event on the hard courts in Osaka.
Huge upsets lit up the basketball World Cup on Wednesday as France beat hosts Spain 65-52 while Serbia thumped Brazil 84-56 to set up an intriguing semi-final clash.
More than a year after recovering from a shoulder injury, Ajay Jayaram earned a final appearance at the Korea Open last week and the Indian shuttler said it was a big moment for him after enduring a challenging seven-month layoff.
India shuttler Kidambi Srikanth believes the days of domination of Lin Dan or Lee Chong Wei are over and the tournaments are more wide open than ever.
For the first time in the history of badminton, two Indians will clash in a Super Series final with Kidambi Srikanth taking on B Sai Praneeth at the Singapore Open, in Singapore, on Sunday.
A Russian medallist at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics is suspected of having tested positive for a banned substance, a source at the Games said on Sunday, in a potential major blow to Russia's efforts to emerge from a drug-cheating scandal.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
P V Sindhu cemented her position as a dominant force on the world stage with an Olympic silver medal while Saina Nehwal continued to battle with injuries in a year, which saw Indian badminton take giant strides at the global platform. It turned out to be a watershed year for Sindhu, who reached the upper echelons of world badminton with a silver medal at Rio Games -- an achievement also for her mentor and chief coach Pullela Gopichand, who became the only Indian coach to produce two Olympic medallists. On the other hand, for the first part of the year, it was Saina's battle with injuries which dominated the headlines even though she was considered to be the best bet for India at Rio. The Indian ace fought against time to recover from an Achilles tendons and went on to win the Australian Super Series.
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