World No 12 Petra Kvitova returned to court dressed for the French Open but was happy to triumph in the women's draw at an all-Czech tournament on Thursday as the sports world starts to slowly return from the novel coronavirus shutdown. The Prague tournament - played among the top Czech men's and women's players but without fans and with ball boys and girls wearing gloves and face masks - was one of the first after professional tennis was suspended in early March as the world went into lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.
Ash Barty ended Australia's 44-year wait for a home winner at the Australian Open when the world number one staved off a fightback from American Danielle Collins to complete a 6-3, 7-6(2) win.
Images from Day 8 of the 2023 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Sunday.
Serbian Dusan Lajovic beat Andy Murray at the Miami Open on Wednesday, sending the Briton packing in the first round with his first hardcourt win of the season.
Hubert Hurkacz battled back from a set and a break down to beat Casper Ruud 5-7 6-3 6-2 on Saturday and reach the Canadian Masters final.
Standing in Czech Karolina Pliskova's way of achieving a first Grand Slam title is top seed Barty who is aiming to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish for the first time herself.
Eighth seed Jabeur faced a tougher time against Russian Gracheva as she survived a double break in the decider to set up a meeting with Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic, who got the better of Karolina Muchova 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
Osaka will play Jennifer Brady for the title.
Serena beat Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova 2-6, 6-3, (13-11) in the women's doubles.
Images from Day 6 of the 2023 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
With tears running down her cheeks she then climbed into the stands towards her team, a tradition started by compatriot Pat Cash when he won the men's singles in 1987.
World number one Ash Barty became the first Australian woman to win the Wimbledon singles title for 41 years on Saturday when she defeated Czech Karolina Pliskova in the final.
The Australian won a tour-leading five titles this year including her second Grand Slam.
The first stop on Serena Williams' farewell tour came to a quick end as she fell to Belinda Bencic in second-round action at the Canadian Open on Wednesday a day after announcing her forthcoming retirement from tennis.
Serena Williams shook off some COVID-19 layoff rust to grind out a 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-6(0) win over Dutch qualifier Arantxa Rus on Monday to move into the third round of the Western and Southern Open.
IMAGES from the Australian Open matches played on Wednesday.
A round-up of all tennis action on Friday.
Images from Day 2 of the 2023 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
Almost all banks that issue contactless cards provide users with a 100 per cent liability cover.
Images from Tuesday, Day 8 of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, in London.
Poland's red-hot world number one Iga Swiatek did not drop a game in her Saturday singles match against Romania's Andreea Prisacariu, sending Poland through to November's Billie Jean King Cup finals in decisive fashion.
A look at the records of Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova and Japan's Naomi Osaka before their semi-final match at the Australian Open on Thursday (prefix number denotes seeding):
Williams has just one professional tournament remaining before she drops the curtain on her historic career
'I have a lot of other goals, dreams that are in my mind and within my team and we'll certainly reset in the next couple of days ... enjoy some time together and then we go again. But really looking forward to the Olympics.'
Three-times winner Serena Williams moved into the Toronto Open second round after beating Spain's Nuria Parrizas Diaz on Monday
Play at the Australian Open continued amid the lockdown, but fans were banned through Wednesday. Thousands were forced to leave mid-matches before midnight on Friday.
Famous faces spotted at the finals:
Penpix of the top women's contenders at the 2021 French Open which begins on Sunday
IMAGES from Day 4 of the 2022 French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Wednesday.
Images from Saturday's action at the Australian Open.
Muguruza seals semi-final berth, Pliskova beats Krejcikova at WTA Finals.
'I think I started listening to them more when I watched 'Thor'. I listened to them even a few years ago, and I watched 'Thor' in Australia.'
India's Nagal draws world No 128 Bradley Klahn in opener.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the Wimbledon Championships from the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, on Tuesday.
Simona Halep claimed the Italian Open in Rome on Monday
In a rematch of their tumultuous 2018 US Open decider, Osaka underlined her status as the new queen of women's tennis and soaked up the cheers from the Rod Laver Arena crowd as fans returned to the Grand Slam after a five-day lockdown.
Ashleigh Barty stunningly lost her chance to regain the number one world ranking when the Australian was beaten in straight sets by Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Former champions Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams have all entered next month's Western & Southern Open in New York, which will serve as a tune-up for the US Open, tournament organisers said on Wednesday. Organisers of the August 20-28 event, which was relocated from Cincinnati this year because of COVID-19, said defending champions Daniil Medvedev and Madison Keys are also among the initial entries.
Australian Nick Kyrgios produced another extraordinary performance to demolish compatriot Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-3 at the Canadian Masters on Thursday, a day after stunning world number one Daniil Medvedev.
Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams fell at the first hurdle
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