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.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova avenged her US Open loss to Anastasija Sevastova with a 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-6(7) victory over the Latvian in the China Open first round on Saturday.
Wily Czech Radek Stepanek, the oldest player in the men's singles, will take his bag of tricks out on Philippe Chatrier Court against World No 2 Andy Murray as the French Open plays catch-up on Monday.
Soccer's governing body FIFA has agreed to ban the third-party ownership (TPO) of players, its president Sepp Blatter said on Friday, seven years after first promising to outlaw the practice.
Ash Barty beat eighth seed Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7) in Beijing to seal her spot in the final of the China Open on Saturday.
World number three Simona Halep refused to let illness beat her as she collected her ninth WTA Tour title by downing Timea Bacsinszky in the Shenzhen Open final on Saturday.
Tennis star Maria Sharapova again tops the list of highest earning female athletes over the past year, according to Forbes.
Top seed Serena Williams turned an early challenge into an eventual cakewalk as she beat Russian-born Yulia Putintseva 7-6(2), 6-0 in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in California on Sunday.
Garbine Muguruza's preparations for next week's Australian Open were thrown into disarray when the world number three pulled out of the Sydney International with a thigh injury on Wednesday.
Wimbledon champions and World No 1s Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams head the field for the men's and women's events at this year's US Open.
Former Wimbledon champion Rafa Nadal could be heading for a clash with one of his Big Four rivals as early as the fourth round after the Spaniard was seeded 10th for the grasscourt championships.
Djokovic, the ninth seed, was originally scheduled to play Australian Open semi-finalist Chung Hyeon but the 22-year-old South Korean withdrew with a back injury about an hour before the match was due to start.
The 37-year-old has enjoyed a renaissance season that has seen her reach the Australian Open and Wimbledon finals and sit just one victory away, against American compatriot Sloane Stephens, from playing for the US Open title for the first time since 2002.
A tenacious Roberto Bautista Agut battled back to beat world number one Novak Djokovic 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 and advance to the quarter-finals of the Miami Open on Tuesday as the Spaniard claimed his second win over the Serb this year.
The 30-year-old is the first German woman to win Wimbledon since Steffi Graf in 1996.
Twice Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka overcame an inspired challenge from qualifier Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Monday to advance to the quarter-finals of the US Open.
The top women's seeds continued to be scattered at Wimbledon on Wednesday, with Caroline Wozniacki's exit meaning five of the top eight were gone before the end of the third day.
Spain's Garbine Muguruza, one of the rising stars of women's tennis, beat Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky to win the China Open on Sunday, her biggest title to date.
The women's draw at the US Open has been in news for the upsets it created. Almost everyday one or some days even two of the top seeds feel to unknown players.
'Everyone always talks about how hot Melbourne is but the US Open's way worse'
Tournament favourite Novak Djokovic beat Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 on Tuesday, kicking off his quest for a first ever Paris trophy to add to his eight other Grand Slams.
World number one Rafael Nadal recorded his 20th straight win on clay as he began his quest for a sixth title in Madrid, defeating Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-1.
Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas secured the biggest win of his career when he sent Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic packing in the third round of the Rogers Cup with a stunning 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 win on Thursday.
Factbox on Russia's Maria Sharapova who was banned until January 2018 on Wednesday after testing positive for the banned drug meldonium at this year's Australian Open.
And, since, pictures speak more than words, Rediff.com brings you images from these sporting events and others that made headlines in the week gone by.
Venus Williams was denied a chance to better her world record for fastest serve in women's tennis in absence of proper measuring technology at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
Defending champion Stan Wawrinka avoided a repeat on Wednesday of his first-round scare, though he was still made to work hard in a straight-sets win over Japan's Taro Daniel. The Swiss third seed won 7-6(7) 6-3 6-4 and is now on a six-match winning streak on clay, having warmed-up for Roland Garros by winning the title in Geneva last week. Progress was by no means straightforward against a skilful opponent ranked 93rd in the world and Wawrinka has yet to switch to his A game. But he says it's there when he needs it. "If you look at the first two matches, for sure I'm not playing my best tennis, but I know I have my best tennis in me," the 31-year-old Wawrinka, playing in his 45th consecutive grand slam tournament, told reporters.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal can take a step closer to a 50th career showdown when they play their fourth-round matches at the US Open on Sunday.
Serena Williams clinched the year-end World No 1 ranking for the fourth time without hitting a ball on Friday after Maria Sharapova, the only woman with any chance of overtaking her, was eliminated from the WTA Finals.
List of Wimbledon women's singles champions:
Take a look at the profile of Maria Sharapova who told a news conference on Monday she failed a drugs test.
Grand Slam finalists Garbine Muguruza and Roberta Vinci stormed into the last four of the Wuhan Open in China on Thursday while Venus Williams ended the giant-killing run of Briton Johanna Konta.
The latest tennis rankings have been announced by the ATP and WTA
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.
Fourth seed Rafael Nadal showed he is healthy and ready to challenge for a third US Open title as he rolled into the last 16 at Flushing Meadows on Friday with a fist-pumping 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over Russian Andrey Kuznetsov.
Nadal, who got a first-round bye, defeated Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-4 to advance.
Novak Djokovic scraped over his first hurdle at the Rome Masters.
Stefanos Tsitsipas pulled off one of the biggest wins of his short but remarkable career by beating Rafael Nadal 6-4 2-6 6-3 on Spanish soil on Saturday to book his place in the Madrid Open final against world number one Novak Djokovic.
Following Serena Williams's win over Angelique Kerber for her 7th Wimbledon crown, here is a list of Wimbledon women's singles champions since 1922:
World number ones Serena Williams, aiming to complete the first calendar-year Grand Slam in 27 years, and Novak Djokovic have been named the top seeds for the US Open championships starting on Monday in New York.
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