Two time Miami Open winner Victoria Azarenka crushed Serbia's Jelena Jankovic.
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.
Angelique Kerber, who will reclaim the world number one ranking on Monday, breezed to a 6-2, 6-1 second-round victory over fellow German Andrea Petkovic at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday.
Roberta Vinci beat her opponent and the rain to storm into the quarter-finals of the US Open on Monday just before a thunderstorm forced play to be suspended.
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are top seeds at the major starting Monday
Factbox on Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, who announced her retirement from tennis at 28 after a second round loss at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati on Wednesday.
Images from the Laureus World Awards held in Monaco on Tuesday
Since that moment, Maria Sharapova has looked virtually unbeatable
Second seed Garbine Muguruza, bidding to add the Wimbledon crown to her French Open title, was sensationally beaten in the second round on Thursday by Slovakian qualifier Jana Cepelova 6-3, 6-2 in the shock of the tournament so far.
For the second straight year Serena Williams saw her bid for a seventh U.S. Open title halted in the semi-finals with a 6-2 7-6(5) loss to Karolina Pliskova on Thursday that also ended her long reign as world number one.
Andy Murray is more afraid of losing his wedding ring than a tennis match these days but that did not stop him from storming to a 10th successive win on clay at the Rome Masters on Wednesday.
American qualifier Sachia Vickery completed an astonishing comeback to stun third seed Garbine Muguruza 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 in a second-round win at the BNP Paribas Open in California on Friday.
The upset left only three of the top 10 seeds still alive in the year's final Grand Slam - number one Serena Williams, who is seeking the fourth women's calendar-year Grand Slam, second seed Simona Halep and fifth seed Petra Kvitova.
Serena Williams has been vulnerable this Grand Slam season but unbeaten in the year's first three major championships.
'I'm not thinking ahead to the Open right now because I am here in Toronto and I haven't really played a hard court match in awhile. I'm thinking I want to get some of this under my belt and the Open will happen when the Open happens.'
Russia, last year's runners-up, were unable to call on world number six Maria Sharapova who was injured
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.
Big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic made a strong return to competition on Friday by beating Viktor Troicki 6-3, 7-5 to reach the third round of the Miami Open.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
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.
Seven-time Italian Open winner Rafael Nadal lost 7-6(7), 6-2 to Stanislas Wawrinka.
The signs that things were going horribly wrong for Roger Federer were laid bare at Roland Garros.
IMAGES from Day 7 at Wimbledon on Monday
Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer advanced to the Wimbledon last 16 without dropping a set after a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win over German Jan-Lennard Struff on Friday.
With the unique format at the WTA Finals, it is all about how you finish rather than how you start as new champion Agnieszka Radwanska proved perfectly in Singapore this week.
Serena Williams crashed out of the US Open after losing in the semi-final to Karolina Pliskova costing her a shot at a 23rd Grand Slam title and resulted in her losing her record 187th straight week at number one.
Jelena Jankovic eased into the last four at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday when Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko retired from their quarter-final with an ankle injury while trailing 6-1, 4-1.
Serena Williams returned to Indian Wells on Friday after a 14-year boycott due to racist abuse she suffered in the 2001 final and got her bid for a third BNP Paribas Open title off to a winning, though somewhat error-prone, start.
Images from matches played on Day 4 of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Thursday
Serena Williams shook off the rust and a feisty challenge from Serbia's Ana Ivanovic to open the defence of her WTA Tour Finals title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the opening match of the elite eight-player tournament on Monday.
Olympic and Wimbledon champion Andy Murray picked up where he left off in Rio by drubbing Argentina's Juan Monaco to take his place in the third round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Wednesday.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the US Open in New York on Wednesday.
Plotting a path to the Australian Open has never been trickier or more uncertain. Even the best players are baffled about the best way to prepare for their annual trek Down Under.
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 summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
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.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic is the top seed in the men's draw which includes five-times US Open champion and 17-times Grand Slam winner Roger Federer as seventh seed - his first time the Swiss has been placed outside the top three in a Grand Slam in over ten years.
Ailing knees, Father Time and even a resurgent Victoria Azarenka stand in the way of Serena Williams clinching her seventh Australian Open title and giving her one more shot at an achievement that would cap her storied career.
Photos from matches on Day 2 at the Australian Open on Tuesday
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