The real Serena Williams finally turned up at the French Open on Saturday in pursuit of a 22nd Grand Slam singles title but it was to no avail as she lost to a tenacious opponent who beat her at her own power game.
2004 champion Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium beat Hana Sromova 7-6, 6-1 to confirm her position as tournament favourite.
Serena Williams regained her composure after smashing her racquet and being on the brink of defeat to beat Caroline Wozniacki 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) on Saturday and reach the title match at the WTA Finals.
Williams's last Grand Slam victory came 18 months ago at Wimbledon, and her form and fitness since returning to the tour after an eight-month layoff have been inconsistent.
Serena Williams had to dig deep to fend off Latvian challenger Jelena Ostapenko as she wrapped up Friday's play at the Fed Cup in Seattle with a hard-fought victory that gave the United States a 2-0 advantage. Williams' experience and savvy ways showed in critical moments against the 22-year-old Ostapenko as she prevailed 7-6(4), 7-6(3) in a match that took one hour and 46 minutes.
Serena Williams, unable to defend her 2009 and 2010 titles last year due to a freak foot injury, found herself dive-bombed by crickets that made merry on a balmy evening at Rod Laver Arena.
Dinara Safina made a scrappy start to her Beijing duel with Serena Williams for the world number one spot by beating Italian Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the $6.6 million China Open on Sunday.
With a heavy rain expected to hit Flushing Meadows later in the day, Serb Jankovic relied on her trademark dogged retrieving to beat Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-4 before the muscular Williams swept away Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-2 in the women's singles semi-finals at the US Open.
"I'm drama, and I don't want to be drama," Williams said after reaching the fourth round with a ill-tempered 4-6 6-3 6-4 win over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
World No 1 Serena Williams suffered one of the heaviest defeats of her long and illustrious career as she was humbled 6-0, 6-2 by Romanian Simona Halep at the WTA Finals on Wednesday.
Australian great Margaret Court won 24 grand slam singles titles, one ahead of American Williams, who confirmed she was pregnant on Wednesday and will sit out the rest of the season.
Australia's Samantha Stosur employed a huge serve, hard forehand and deft backhand slice to upset Wimbledon champion Serena Williams 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the Stanford Classic on Friday.
Since having a child and returning to the WTA Tour Serena Williams's focus has been split between raising a family and work.
World No 1 Serena Williams overcame a wobbly start to open the defence of her Sony Open crown with a spirited 7-6(9-7), 6-2 win over Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova on Thursday.
Bumble began in 2014 as a dating platform for women to start discussions with potential male partners. The company is aiming to promote newer functions, Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz, which help women find friends and build business networks, alongside dating.
'The world is suffering in general, so we can't complain'
The glittering evening attracted royalty as well as movie stars, entertainers and a worldwide television audience estimated at 320 million.
Russian Sharapova pulled out because of a hamstring injury while Serena is still down with flu.
World No. 1 Serena Williams has been top-seeded for the U.S. Open where she will be seeking to win the women's singles title for a third consecutive year, the United States Tennis Association announced on Wednesday.
Serena Williams' bid for the Italian Open was squashed in her first match on Tuesday when the American second seed lost 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 to Swiss Patty Schnyder. French Open champion Ana Ivanovic beat Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-4 and seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia had a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win over Slovak Daniela Hantuchova.
Five times Cincinnati winner Roger Federer blunted Andy Murray's attempt at a comeback, while women's World No 1 Serena Williams roared to victory as they moved into the semi-finals at the Western & Southern Open on Friday.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki might have been better off asking Serena Williams about how to win the biggest tournaments instead of seeking guidance about relationships.
The former world No.1 told organisers of the Perth event that she wants to concentrate on defending her title at the Australian Open.
The veteran American set up a showdown with Romanian former world number one Simona Halep in Saturday's final.
Serena Williams battered Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon on Tuesday, seizing on moments of weakness from the Russian to ram home her advantage.
Serena Williams, who has dropped to 172nd in the world after being sidelined for almost a year with injury and illness, has opted to use an injury-protected ranking to gain entry into the US Open, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) said on Wednesday.
World number one Serena Williams raced into the quarter-finals of the Paris Open with a 6-1, 6-2 demolition of Croatian qualifier Karolina Sprem on Thursday. The American top seed, who won the tournament in 1999 and 2003, will face France's Emilie Loit for a semi-final spot on Friday.
Venus and Serena Williams won the 2009 Australian Open women's doubles title, beating Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova and Japan's Ai Sugiyama, 6-3, 6-3 in the final in Melbourne on Friday. The tenth-seeded American sisters captured their eighth Grand Slam doubles title in the process, having also won the Australian Open in 2001 and 2003.
Victory in Melbourne would be sure to put a smile on her face, though. It would give her the oft-mentioned 'Serena Slam'.
Women's No 1 Serena Williams remained on track for her 60th career title as she powered past Peng Shuai 6-2, 6-3 while Rafael Nadal launched the defence of his Madrid Open title.
The top seed celebrated her 23rd birthday with a come-from-behind win over Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final.
World number two Serena Williams retired from her first-round match against Francesca Schiavone at the Madrid Open Monday with a knee injury after losing the first set to the Italian.
Petra Kvitova is not the type to talk herself up even if she does arrive at Wimbledon as the defending champion.
Serena Williams takes centre stage on Centre Court when she lines up opposite 16-year-old Tatiana Golovin.
The thought of playing a long match in the extreme Melbourne heat resulted in a sleepless night for Serena Williams, but the World No 1 need not have worried as she strode swiftly into the Australian Open third round on Wednesday.
