Venus Williams will return to the Australian Open after receiving a wildcard entry, the tournament's organisers said on Friday, marking her first appearance at Melbourne Park in five years.
Seven-times Grand Slam champion Venus Williams thanked Australian Open organisers on Saturday for giving her a wildcard that will see the 45-year-old American become the oldest woman ever to compete in the singles main draw.
Images from the second round matches played at the Australian Open on Thursday.
After all the shocks and spills of the opening week, top seed Serena Williams remained impregnable as she unleashed her full arsenal to move almost effortlessly into the last 16 at Wimbledon on Saturday. A crushing 6-2, 6-0 win over Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm offered a reminder that while her closest rivals in the women's game are often vulnerable to upsets, she is an immovable object at the top of the tree.
Alexis Olympia Ohanian donned braids with white beads on them, just as her mother Serena did when she first won the US Open as a teenager in 1999.
Former world number four Kimiko Date has been invited to play in next month's Japan Women's Open barely a fortnight before she turns 47, the Japan Tennis Association said on Wednesday.
Comeback German girl Andrea Petkovic toppled top seed Nina Bratchikova of Russia while Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm shocked compatriot and second seed Misaki Doi to storm into the semi-finals of the WTA Indian Open in Pune.
Japan's Kimiko Date called time on her tennis career at the age of 46 on Monday, saying she was no longer able to perform at the best of her abilities due to physical issues and had decided to listen to the "inner voice" telling her it was time to quit.
India's Sania Mirza and Switzerland's Martina Hingis entered the women's doubles third round.
Date-Krumm, ranked 84, is a lengthy outsider to cause an upset against the dominant force in the women's game who is currently on a 33-match winning streak.
Images from Saturday's play at Wimbledon.
Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm, the grand old lady of the women's singles draw, became the oldest female player to reach the Wimbledon third round in the professional era on Thursday.
Images from the Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
Play should have been halted at the Sydney International due to the sweltering heat, women's top seed Agnieszka Radwanska said after she beat Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday to advance to the quarter-finals.
Eighteen-year-old Elina Svitolina of Ukraine denied veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm a date with history when she overpowered the Japanese 6-2, 6-3 to lift the Indian Open, her maiden WTA title.
Venus Williams made a triumphant return to the WTA Tour on Wednesday, winning her first round match at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
Caroline Wozniacki gained a valuable confidence boost ahead of next week's French Open when she beat last year's Roland Garros winner Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in their Brussels Open semi-final on Friday.
It was Venus's turn to write the Williams plot line at Wimbledon on Wednesday as she survived a gripping three-set battle with 40-year-old Japanese Kimiko Date-Krumm.
Ana Ivanovic celebrated her 23rd birthday by defeating Kimiko Date Krumm 7-5, 6-7, 6-2 to reach the final of the Tournament of Champions in Bali on Saturday.
Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm stunned former world number one and last year's finalist Dinara Safina 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the French Open on Tuesday.
A day before turning 40, Japan's Kimiko Date Krumm bundled defending champion Maria Sharapova out of the Pan Pacific Open in the first round on Monday.
Marion Bartoli will play Aravane Rezai in an all-French final at the Tournament of Champions in Bali after both claimed straight-sets victories on Saturday.
It took about two years for Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin to come out of retirement. Kimiko Date Krumm waited 12 years before letting the fire inside her burn again and Dinara Safina felt the full heat in Paris.
Japanese 38-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm gave 18-year-old Danish opponent Caroline Wozniacki a run for her money on her return to Wimbledon before going down 7-5, 3-6, 1-6.
Former world number four Kimiko Date's international comeback ended in defeat in the first round of the Auckland Classic on Monday. Now playing under the name Date-Krumm, she succumbed 6-4, 6-3 to American Jill Craybas in her first WTA tournament outside Japan in 13 years.
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis advanced to the second round of the Wimbledon Championships, defeating the duo of Saisai Zheng and Zarina Diyas in the opening round on Wednesday night. The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated the Chinese-Kazakh team 6-2, 6-2.
Osaka remains on course for glory at Melbourne Park after blowing away Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-1 to set up a last four clash with Czech Karolina Pliskova in the year's first Grand Slam.
India will host its first WTA tournament in five years when the city of Mumbai stages a $ 125,000 event in November, giving home players an opportunity to compete with the world's top-50.
Kei Nishikori has shrugged off the pressure of being Japan's highest-seeded player at Wimbledon in the Open era and believes he is getting closer to the levels of the world's top players.
Venus Williams became one of the oldest players to win a WTA title when she beat Caroline Wozniacki in the final of the Auckland Classic on Saturday.
No current athlete in the world of sport can match the 31-year-old for reliability at present and the American, despite a brief blip, eased past Luxembourg's Mandy Minella 6-1, 6-3.
Serena Williams squandered four match points and blew a 5-1 lead in the decider to fall to seventh seed Karolina Pliskova 6-4 4-6 7-5 in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
World No 1 Serena Williams showed plenty of rust in her first competitive outing of the year ahead of the Australian Open, but battled through to defeat Andrea Petkovic in straight sets at the Brisbane International on Tuesday.
IMAGES from Day 10 of the US Open matches played in New York on Wednesday
A pioneering Kei Nishikori blazed a new trail for Japanese tennis with a shock win over World No 1 Novak Djokovic at the U.S. Open on Saturday, becoming the first man from Asia to book a place in a Grand Slam final.
'When I least expect it, I start to find traces of India in foreign lands.'
An air of calm descended at Wimbledon on 'Tranquil Thursday' as Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams avoided the trail of destruction that had decimated the field at the All England Club on day three of the grasscourt major.
India garnered most of the gold medals on offer for the fourth successive day at the 12th South Asian Games, as their swimmers, archers and track-and-field athletes ensured the top position on the medals tally remained unchallenged, in Guwahati, on Tuesday.
Top 10 seeds David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Stan Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet raced into the second round of the Australian Open on Monday, apparently eager to make the most of relatively mild conditions at Melbourne Park.
