Local favourite and sixth seed Sam Stosur became the highest ranked player to crash out of the Australian Open first round on Tuesday while men's fourth seed Andy Murray was pushed by Ryan Harrison before he overcame the American teenager in four sets.
Petra Kvitova, Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic, however, had all ensured they spent as little time as possible in the heat with lopsided victories.
With the whiff of a fifth Wimbledon singles title in the air, grass court predator Serena Williams cut down defending champion Petra Kvitova to move ominously into the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Petra Kvitova's preparations for the defence of her Wimbledon title suffered a setback when she was beaten by Russia's Ekaterina Makarova in the first round of the Eastbourne International on Tuesday.
Check out the most shocking upsets at this year's Wimbledon.
Maria Sharapova enjoyed a double celebration on Thursday as she reclaimed the world number one tennis ranking after blowing away Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-3 to reach her maiden French Open final.
Petra Kvitova, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga battled their way into the third round of the French Open on Thursday.
The Czech Republic cruised to a 2-0 lead after the opening singles of the Fed Cup final against Serbia on Saturday, putting them well on course to successfully defend their title.
Serena Williams marked her first European appearance of the season with victory on the Madrid Open's striking blue clay courts on Monday, but her sister Venus crashed out in the second round.
Holder Petra Kvitova was stunned at the WTA Championships on Tuesday with a defeat that reduced her to tears while Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova began their campaigns in top form at the end-of-season competition.
Images from Day 11 of the 2020 French Open at Roland Garros, in Paris, on Wednesday.
Images from Day 9 of the 2020 Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Top seed Simona Halep was pooled with grand slam winners Maria Sharapova and Flavia Pennetta in a formidable looking Red Group for the end-of-season WTA Finals on Friday.
Top seed Victoria Azarenka charged ominously into the fourth round of the Indian Wells WTA tournament on Sunday while third-seeded Petra Kvitova made an unexpected early exit.
Images from Day Seven of the US Open tennis tournament being played in New York.
China's Li Na defeated a battling Venus Williams 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the final of the Cincinnati Open on Saturday after an enthralling two-hour nine minutes encounter.
Petra Kvitova overcame a mid-match slump to claim her first title of the season with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 victory over China's Li Na in the Montreal Cup on Monday.
Nobody feels that Caroline Wozniacki is the rightful World No 1 and the Dane owes her top ranking to a flawed WTA system, according to Martina Navratilova.
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki will play 107th-ranked local Anastasia Rodionova in the first round of the Australian Open when she begins her bid for a maiden Grand Slam title.
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.
Petra Kvitova's hopes of defending her Wimbledon title were shot to pieces in a hail of Centre Court cannon fire from Serena Williams who ousted the defending champion 6-3, 7-5 in their quarter-final on Tuesday.
Holder Maria Sharapova ended the encouraging run of Venus Williams to reach the semi-finals of the Italian Open on Friday, but Serena Williams enjoyed an easy passage through to the last four.
Novak Djokovic was back on top form as he brushed aside rising Australian talent Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-3 to reach the third round of the Rome Masters on Tuesday.
Defending champion Petra Kvitova was upset by qualifier and Czech compatriot Lucie Hradecka 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
World No 1 Victoria Azarenka enjoyed another walk in the park against Agnieszka Radwanska on Saturday, beating the Pole for the fifth time this year to reach the Stuttgart Grand Prix final.
Petra Kvitova put defending champions the Czech Republic into the Fed Cup final with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Italy's Francesca Schiavone on Sunday.
A lingering shoulder problem has given world number two Kim Clijsters increased cause for concern with the WTA Tour's claycourt season fast approaching.
World number one Victoria Azarenka stretched her unbeaten run to 24 matches this year while Venus Williams ousted Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Friday.
While Petra Kvitova is the first woman to achieve the 'inglorious' feat, there have been three men who were there before hand to welcome her as a member of the not-so-wanted club.
The Cincinnati Open claimed two more high-profile victims on Thursday with Grand Slam champions Li Na and Petra Kvitova crashing out, while Russian pair Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonareva crunched their opponents en route to the quarter-finals.
Maria Sharapova stood, looked at the players' box, slammed both of her fists down in celebration and let out an almighty roar of "Come on!"
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.
Images from day nine of the Australian Open 2012 Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, on Tuesday.
There's nowhere to hide when you hit the worst shot of a tennis Grand Slam.
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.
The Czech Republic was enjoying a hat-trick of Wimbledon triumphs on Sunday when Iveta Benesova teamed up with Austrian Juergen Melzer to capture the mixed doubles title with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Mahesh Bhupathi and Elena Vesnina.
Softly-spoken 21-year-old Czech Petra Kvitova celebrated her Wimbledon singles title with a shy smile on Saturday, a stark contrast to the destructive tennis she employed to destroy former champion Maria Sharapova on Centre Court.
Eighth seed Petra Kvitova kept her nerve to outgun and outplay favourite Maria Sharapova and win the Wimbledon singles title for the first time with a convincing 6-3, 6-4 victory on Saturday.
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.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic destroyed Tomas Berdych in a lop-sided contest to win his fifth China Open crown on Sunday while Maria Sharapova overcame Petra Kvitova 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in the women's final to move up to No 2 in the world rankings.
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