Former champions Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova sparkled under the Arthur Ashe Stadium lights to end a steamy first day that proved more than a little stressful for several of the US Open favourites on Monday.
World number one Serena Williams saved three set points on her way to edging Russian Maria Kirilenko 7-5, 7-5 on Thursday to advance to the quarter-finals of the China Open with her 70th win of the season.
Maria Sharapova blocked out a 28-minute horror show to beat Jelena Jankovic and Victoria Azarenka eased past Maria Kirilenko to set up a heavyweight French Open semi-final in Paris on Wednesday.
A laid-back Serena Williams breezed into the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Thursday when she barely broke sweat in a 6-3, 6-1 drubbing of Maria Kirilenko.
Erratic serving cost Petra Kvitova dearly as the fifth-seeded Czech was knocked out of the BNP Paribas Open by Russian Maria Kirilenko on Wednesday, losing 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
Serena Williams trounced Maria Kirilenko at the Australian Open on Monday, setting up an all-American quarter-final with her would-be successor Sloane Stephens after Andy Murray had put flagging Frenchman Gilles Simon out of his misery.
Sara Errani warmed up for her singles final by teaming up with fellow Italian Roberta Vinci to win the French Open women's doubles title on Friday by beating seventh-seeded Russians Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Former champions Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova advanced to the semi-finals of the Indian Wells WTA tournament in sharply contrasting fashion on Thursday.
Russians Nadia Petrova and Maria Kirilenko avenged a pair of stinging London defeats by beating Venus and Serena Williams in the women's doubles at the US Open on Monday.
Kveta Peschke and Lucie Hradecka beat Maria Kirilenko and Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-2 in the decisive doubles to give the Czech Republic a 3-2 win over Russia in the Fed Cup final on Sunday, clinching the country's first title as an independent nation.
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.
Venus Williams showed that, almost a year after her health scare, she has the stamina needed as she battled for two hours 23 minutes to beat Russia's Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 at the Cincinnati Open on Tuesday.
Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva breezed into the quarter finals of the Stanford Classic on Wednesday, crushing their second-round opponents with equal efficiency.
Images from Day 1 of the Australian Open.
Argentine Gisela Dulko and Italy's Flavia Pennetta beat Eastern Europeans Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 to win the Australian Open women's doubles titles on Friday.
Second seed Victoria Azarenka beat Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-4 in a see-saw Kremlin Cup final on Sunday to win her second title of the year.
Maria Sharapova's eagerly-awaited return to the Australian Open ended swiftly on Monday when she was sensationally knocked out of the first grand slam of 2010 just hours after it began.
US Open champion Samantha Stosur lost in the second round of the China Open on Tuesday, beaten for the second time in a week by Russian Maria Kirilenko.
Holder Marion Bartoli advanced to the quarter-finals of the Stanford Classic on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-4 win over former world number one Ana Ivanovic, while Maria Sharapova also advanced to the last eight. Russian Sharapova, a three-times Grand Slam winner, beat Belarus's Olga Govortsova 6-3, 6-3 while Maria Kirilenko defeated sixth seed Shahar Peer 6-4, 6-3.
Reader Girish sent us these pictures from Bangalore.
Svetlana Kuznetsova's luck finally ran out at Roland Garros on Friday.
Serena Williams showed little ill-effect from her long layoff with a knee injury as she powered into the semi-finals of the Italian Open on Thursday.
French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova's poor form continued on Monday when she was knocked out of the Italian Open 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 by Russian compatriot Maria Kirilenko.
She beat fourth seed Russian Maria Kirilenko in the first round of the Hobart International tennis tournament on Monday.
Olympic champion Elena Dementieva began her warm-up for Wimbledon with a swift 6-2, 6-2 win over fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko at the Eastbourne International on Monday.
The Indian challenge in Wimbledon mixed doubles event ended with crushing second-round defeats for the pairings of Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza and Leander Paes and Rennae Stubbs on Saturday. Sania, however, advanced in women's doubles, entering the third round with her American partner Bethanie Mattek after a 6-3, 6-4 win over the Russian-Italian pair of Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta.
Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek sailed into the third round of Wimbledon women's doubles event after a comfortable straight-set win over Russian-Italian pair of Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta on Saturday.
Sania Mirza and her partner Chuang Chia-jung of Taiwan rallied to stun eighth seeds Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta in a gruelling three-setter for a place in the women's doubles quarterfinal of the USD 4.5 million Miami Masters.
Russia's Maria Sharapova battled past Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki to move into the Italian Open quarter-finals with a 6-4, 7-6 win on Thursday.
Leander Paes will partner Russian Maria Kirilenko in the mixed doubles event of the French Open
Maria Kirilenko and her boyfriend Igor Andreev wanted to start 2010 with a bang. And after beating Sharapova, she tells Andreev to beat Federer.
The other semi-final in the WTA Sunfeast Open will be between Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine and Anne Keothavong of Britain.
The Indian ace had trouble returning Sharapova's serves and watched the Russian tear apart her second serve in the quarter-finals of the San Diego Classic.
The writing was on the wall only a couple of games into the match. Patty Schnyder had come with a specific game plan and she executed it to perfection. The fourth seeded Swiss beat China's Zi Yan 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 15 minutes to advance to the final of the WTA Tier II Bangalore Open on Saturday.
The best was saved for the last. After a day of mundane action and lopsided contests, China's Zi Yan showed tremendous grit to save three match points and oust eighth seed Maria Kirilenko in the first round of the WTA Tier II Bangalore Open on Tuesday night.
Sania Mirza's impressive showing at the Hobart WTA saw her move to world number 53.
Top seed Venus Williams beat Flavia Pennetta while the Russian accounted for Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in Saturday's semi-finals.
Fourth-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko crushed unheralded Ukrainian Mariya Koryttseva in a one-sided final to win the US $175,000 WTA event.
The Russian will meet Mariya Korrytseva in Sunday's final at the Sunfeast Open in Kolkata.
Second seed Jelena Jankovic outlasted Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Los Angeles Classic on Friday.