Serena Williams hit top gear in deposing champion Petra Kvitova and ominously for her Wimbledon semi-final opponent Victoria Azarenka the four-times champion says she has nothing to lose in the last-four clash on Thursday.
Ana Ivanovic beat Petra Kvitova 6-3, 7-5 on Sunday to keep alive Serbia's hopes of winning their debut Fed Cup title.
IMAGES from the matches played during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, at Wimbledon in London on Thursday
French Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka has moved up five places to number four in the official ATP world rankings released on Monday.
Powerful Canadian Eugenie Bouchard overcame match-point jitters to claim an eventful 7-6(5), 6-2 victory over Romania's Simona Halep 7-6(5), 6-2 at Wimbledon on Thursday and reach a grand slam final for the first time.
Images from Monday's action at the French Open.
The 31-year-old three-time Grand Slam champion had not played a competitive match since losing to Sam Querrey in last year's Wimbledon quarter-finals and opted to have right hip surgery five months ago.
Fourth seed Maria Sharapova overcame a second set rally by Petra Kvitova to advance to her third Australian Open final with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory on Thursday. She will now meet third seed Victoria Azarenka in the final on Saturday after the Belarusian earlier beat 2011 champion Kim Clijsters 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
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.
Petra Kvitova and Tomas Berdych produced some impeccable tennis to give the Czech Republic the Hopman Cup with a 2-0 win over France in the final on Saturday.
Images from Day 1 of the US Open in New York, on Monday.
In the women's draw, defending champion Garbine Muguruza will play 2010 French Open winner Francesca Schiavone
Images from Day 3 of the 2020 US Open in New York, on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova overpowered Lucie Safarova 6-2, 6-4 in the second reverse singles to pull Russia level with the Czech Republic at 2-2 in their Fed Cup final on Sunday.
The board reminded Osaka that 'a core element of the Grand Slam regulations is the responsibility of the players to engage with the media'
Fourth seed Vera Zvonareva bundled Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova out of the Pan Pacific Open with a 7-6, 6-0 victory on Friday to book a place in the Tokyo finals. The Russian faces Agnieszka Radwanska for the title on Saturday after the Pole beat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 under a setting sun in the second semi-final.
The Czech Republic defended their Fed Cup title on Sunday as Karolina Pliskova became the home team's hero with a starring performance in their thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Russia.
Aryna Sabalenka moved one step closer to defending her Wuhan Open crown after dispatching world number one Ash Barty in straight sets with a 7-5 6-4 victory in the semi-final on Friday
Images from Day 8 of Wimbledon 2022 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, on Monday.
Maria Sharapova remained on course for consecutive Madrid Open titles when she recovered from dropping the second set to beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on Thursday and book a spot in the semi-finals.
Lucas Pouille crowned a glorious French charge at the U.S. Open on Sunday by ousting 14-times grand slam singles winner Rafa Nadal in a five-set thriller. The 22-year-old Pouille, seeded 24th, won a deciding tiebreak 8-6 to complete a 6-1 2-6 6-4 3-6 7-6(6) marathon victory and join compatriots Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils into the last eight at Flushing Meadows.
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.
Andy Murray will begin the defence of his Wimbledon title against a qualifier after the draw was made at the All England Club on Friday.
The Frenchman, seeded five, had no answer to left-hander Muller's swinging serve as he bowed out 6-4, 6-4.
US tennis powerhouse Serena Williams dispatched France's Alize Cornet in two sets on Monday, ending a streak of weak family performances that saw older sister Venus eliminated from singles on Saturday and the pair knocked out in doubles on Sunday.
Caroline Wozniacki became the first Danish tennis player to be crowned world number one when she beat Czech Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the China Open on Thursday.
Novak Djokovic brushed past France's Adrian Mannarino 6-4 6-3 7-6(5) on Wednesday to book his place in the third round of Wimbledon. The defending champion, aiming for his third consecutive title, played well within himself and was rarely troubled during the second-round match. Mannarino, ranked 55, put up spirited resistance in the third set to force a tiebreak but was ultimately swept off Centre Court by the Serbian's laser-guided ground-strokes.
Defending champion Serena Williams withstood stiff early resistance from unseeded Czech Petra Kvitova before winning 7-6, 6-2 to reach her sixth Wimbledon singles final on Thursday. She will meet Vera Zvonareva, who survived an early wobble before scoring a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over unseeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in the other semi-final.
'It's sad that I'm here protesting the same thing that she did 50-plus years ago'
In an exciting back-and-forth rubber lasting three hours 45 minutes, Siniakova held off the 19-year-old Fed Cup debutante to give the Czechs a 3-0 win in the final against a United States team who were the defending champions but were missing their top players.
Halep, the beaten finalist in the French Open last week, is the latest top player to pull out from the event after Czech world number three Karolina Pliskova opted to rest her injured elbow ahead of Wimbledon.
Former world number one Venus Williams produced a vintage display to outclass Netherlands' Arantxa Rus in straight sets and storm into the second round of the Yarra Valley Classic.
World No 1 Serena Williams showed her determination to defend her WTA Championships title by sweeping to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Angelique Kerber at the season-ending event on Tuesday.
There was not an ounce of bitterness as Osaka accepted the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup from Asia's first Grand Slam champion Li Na
Nadal needed all his experience to keep Pouille at bay in the decider and the match looked to be heading for another tiebreak before he pounced to break Pouille's serve for the first time to go 6-5 up in the third.
Jennifer Brady spent two weeks in hard quarantine gathering mental strength for her tilt at a maiden Grand Slam title and will hope there is plenty in reserve when she takes on Naomi Osaka in Saturday's Australian Open final.
Other nominees for the prize are Angelique Kerber (Germany), Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic and Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark).
World No 1 Serena Williams was handed the best possible draw for her WTA Finals title defence with the 33-year-old American grouped with two injury doubts and avoiding the in-form players.
Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza notched up her first ever victory on Arthur Ashe Stadium with a 6-0, 6-3 win over American Varvara Lepchenko at the US Open on Monday.
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