Novak Djokovic launched his bid for a record seventh Australian Open title on Tuesday with an impressive 6-1, 7-6(4), 6-2 win over hard-hitting Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
IMAGES from all the action on Day 8 the Australian Open on Monday
5 exceptional players who surprised us at Melbourne.
Novak Djokovic belted out Serbian folk songs in an all-in party after clinching the Australian Open, but shrugged off a poor night's sleep to focus on more glory on the clay-courts of Roland Garros.
Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray in straight sets to win the men's singles title at the Australian Open on Sunday. The Serb, seeded third, needed 159 minutes to overcome his fifth-seeded opponent 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in a one-sided contest at Melbourne Park.
The Australian Open trophy continued to elude Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi as the re-united 'Indian Express' could not stop Mike and Bob Bryan from scoring a hat-trick of titles at the Melbourne Park on Saturday.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will put friendship aside when they meet in Sunday's Australian Open final to decide who fills the power vacuum left by the early exits of Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer.
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are on course for their maiden Australian Open title together as they advanced to the semi-finals after a hard-fought victory over the combine of Michael Llodra of France and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Rafael Nadal and Kim Clijsters swept into the Australian Open third round on Thursday as Serbia's Jelena Jankovic became the first top-10 player to exit the tournament. After three days of scares but no upsets at Melbourne Park, former world number one Jankovic, the seventh seed, was dumped out 7-6, 6-3 by Chinese upstart Peng Shuai.
Images from the Australian Open matches played on Thursday.
Caroline Wozniacki and Justine Henin barely broke sweat as they swept into the third round of the Australian Open in the first hour's play on another cool morning at Melbourne Park on Wednesday.
A rampaging Rafael Nadal roared through the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday when Brazil's Marcos Daniel retired with the world number one on a tear at 6-0, 5-0.
World number one Rafa Nadal put his recovery from a bout of flu to the test with a rain-interrupted practice session at Melbourne Park on Tuesday ahead of next week's Australian Open.
World number one Rafael Nadal has been laid low by flu this week but Andre Agassi is confident the illness will not scupper the Spaniard's chances of winning the Australian Open later this month.
World number four Andy Murray admits he still needs to improve his serve if he is to break his grand slam duck at the Australian Open later this month.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
The Bhupathi-Melzer pair lose in straight sets to Argentine team of Diego Schwartzman and Horacio Zeballos.
Images from Tuesday's matches at the Australian Open.
Images from Day 1 of the Australian Open.
China's Li Na overcame an attack of nerves and weathered a feisty challenge from Dominika Cibulkova before roaring to a 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 victory to win her first Australian Open title on Saturday.
Serena Williams, with 21 grand slam titles in her trophy cabinet, thinks she has nothing left to prove to anyone and just wants to have fun for the remainder of her career.
Roger Federer will not warm up for the Australian Open at this week's Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, prompting organisers to target Briton Andy Murray for the vacant eighth spot in the invitational field.
Gilles Simon will carry the distinction of being the first man to prise a set off Novak Djokovic at this year's Australian Open but the lion-hearted Frenchman was crushed after going down in a five-set classic on Sunday.
Former champion Maria Sharapova found inspiration in a change of dress to put away unseeded American Lauren Davis 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-0 at the Australian Open on Friday and set up an intriguing fourth round match with rising Swiss talent Belinda Bencic.
Former golden girl Eugenie Bouchard's hopes of rehabilitation at the Australian Open came to a swift end on Wednesday as wily Agnieszka Radwanska sent the Canadian spinning out of the tournament with a 6-4, 6-2 defeat in the second round.
Sofia Kenin said that the experience at Roland Garros changed her career trajectory.
Defending champion Roger Federer argued with an umpire but mostly let his racket do the talking as he beat Tomas Berdych for the ninth time running to reach the Australian Open semi-finals on Wednesday.
Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, once nicknamed "the magician" by Pete Sampras for his habit of mystifying bigger, stronger opponents, could perform one final, record-breaking trick before his remarkable career ends.
Former world number one Novak Djokovic's preparation for next month's Australian Open suffered a blow after he pulled out of the season-opening exhibition event in Abu Dhabi on Friday due to pain in his right elbow.
The 28-year-old said beating American great Williams was the finest win of her career, outstripping her upset of world number one Ash Barty at last year's US Open.
Naomi Osaka settled her nerves and stepped up her preparations for the Australian Open by beating Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-2 to reach the last 16 of the Gippsland Trophy warm-up tournament in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Images from the matches played on Day eight of the 2018 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Monday
IMAGES of the all the action from Day 2 of the Australian Open played at Melbourne Park on Tuesday
China's hopes of a first grand slam finalist were crushed by two of the greats of the women's game on Thursday but Li Na and Zheng Jie's brilliant Australian Open run marked another step in the country's inevitable rise.
Leander Paes had a bitter-sweet experience at the Australian Open, sailing into the semi-finals of the mixed doubles but crashing out of men's doubles, in Melbourne, on Wednesday.
Leander Paes remained on course for his second successive Grand Slam title after reaching the men's doubles pre-quarterfinals of the Australian Open with partner Lukas Dlouhy in Melbourne on Saturday.
India's Somdev Devvarman and Prakash Amritraj crashed out of the Australian Open with a disappointing 6-1, 6-3 loss to Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Australian Paul Hanley at Melbourne Park on Friday.
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.
Images from the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday.
Italy's Flavia Pennetta advanced to her first Australian Open quarter-final with a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 victory over ninth-seeded German Angelique Kerber.
