Top seed Serena Williams shook off a spirited attempt by Agnieszka Radwanska and moved into the final of the Rogers Cup with a 7-6(3), 6-4 victory on Saturday and will meet Romania's Sorana Cirstea, whose surprising run continued when she beat China's Li Na 6-1, 7-6(5).
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.
Serena Williams squandered four match points and blew a 5-1 lead in the decider to fall to seventh seed Karolina Pliskova 6-4 4-6 7-5 in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
IMAGES of the all the action from Day 2 of the Australian Open played at Melbourne Park on Tuesday
World number one Rafael Nadal set a new record of winning 50 consecutive sets on a single surface by beating Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the Madrid Open quarter-finals.
Caroline Wozniacki put a huge dent in Maria Sharapova's bid to finish the season as world number one by overcoming some distracting bright lights to down the Russian 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-2 in their marathon opening group match of the WTA Finals on Tuesday.
Images from Day 4 of the US Open in New York on Thursday.
Six-time champion Novak Djokovic's hopes of turning around his season at the Miami Open ended in the second round when he was defeated 6-3, 6-4 by Frenchman Benoit Paire.
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.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Defending champion Serena Williams is the top seed in the women's draw. The American will be looking to equal Steffi Graf's Open era record by sealing a 22nd Grand Slam triumph.
Wozniacki battles past Kerber into Eastbourne final
Cycling: Olympic champion Vogel stable after operation
The 36-year-old Australian Open champion arrived in the Dutch port city at the weekend knowing a run to the semi-finals will move him ahead of Rafael Nadal in the ATP standings.
Venus Williams and CoCo Vandeweghe won the opening singles matches to give holders the United States a commanding 2-0 lead in their Fed Cup World Group opener against the Netherlands in Asheville, North Carolina on Saturday.
Images from the second day at the US Open, the final Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Unseeded Australian Daria Gavrilova upset fifth seed Petra Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the China Open on Saturday as Serbia's Aleksandra Krunic showed stunning powers of recovery to pull off her own shock win over sixth seed Elina Svitolina.
All England Club officials on Tuesday announced a seven percent overall rise, down from 10.5 percent last year, meaning overall prize money has surged by an eye-popping 152 percent since 2011 to 26.75 million pounds.
The absence of expectant mother Serena Williams and a failure by any of the other top women to produce the kind of dominance the American seven-times champion has consistently delivered makes this year's Wimbledon the most open in years.
Former US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro underlined his status as a dark horse for next week's Australian Open by hammering Dmitry Tursunov to reach the final of the Sydney International on Friday.
Top seed Dominic Thiem was knocked out the Rio Open in the first round on Tuesday, going down 6-3, 6-3 to Laslo Djere.
A summary of Friday play at the French Open.
'I was trying to play every match like it was my last one. Trying to play best all the time' 'For me it is easy to practise and stay in this life but sometimes it is hard to compete'
Former world number one Novak Djokovic suffered a surprise second-round exit at the Barcelona Open when the Serb was beaten 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 by world number 140 Martin Klizan on Wednesday.
List of Wimbledon women's singles champions:
Seven-time champion Serena Williams endured an unlikely scrap in her Wimbledon opener and will look to shake off more rust in the second round on Thursday when she faces another qualifier in 18-year-old Kaja Juvan.
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.
The 36-year-old Swiss master needs only to reach the semi-finals at the ABN Amro tennis event to overtake Rafael Nadal at the top of the ATP rankings and become world number one for the first time since November 2012.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday.
The post-match press conference can be the bane of a player's life, especially when they have lost, but Roger Federer has found a way to use them to his advantage.
Rafael Nadal was made to wait before his second-round Rogers Cup match due to several rain delays but did his part to put the schedule back on track with a speedy 6-2 6-3 win over Frenchman Benoit Paire on Wednesday.
The Indian qualifier, who savoured his best ever performance on the ATP World Tour, went down fighting 4-6, 6-4, 3-6 against the world number 45 from South Africa in the quarter-finals played on Friday.
A win by Venus would keep the 35-year-old on track for a first grand slam title since 2008 Wimbledon and a possible return to the US Open final where she first made the final in her debut in 1997. But a victory would end little sister Serena's quest for the rarest of tennis feats -- a calendar-year grand slam.
Roger Federer rallied from a set down to beat Moldovan surprise package Radu Albot 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in a stuttering start to the 20-times Grand Slam champion's Miami Open campaign on Saturday.
Wimbledon's genteel surrounds resembled Saturday night on a casualty ward as injuries saw seven players withdraw or retire and third seed Maria Sharapova stumble to a shock second-round defeat on Wednesday.
Milos Raonic overcame third seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the third round at the Madrid Open on Tuesday and set up an all-Canadian clash with teenager Denis Shapovalov.
The Swiss great is looking to win a 102nd tour-level trophy and move closer to Jimmy Connors' record of 109.
Former world number one Garbine Muguruza was beaten 7-5, 6-4 by Aryna Sabalenka in the China Open second round on Tuesday while an ailing Jelena Ostapenko lost 6-0, 6-0 to Wang Qiang.
Serena Williams edged past Spain's Garbine Muguruza 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarters.
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