Ask any of the top seeds at next week's U.S. Open who they would least like to play in the early rounds and there will only be one name uttered - Kim Clijsters.
Venus Williams cantered into the Australian Open third round and second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova also came through.
Kim Clijsters' brilliant comeback continued at the Cincinnati Open with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova on Thursday, but the Williams sisters both fell at the third round hurdle. Second seed Serena, struggling with a virus, lost 7-5, 6-4 to Austria's Sybille Bammer while in-form Italian Flavia Pennetta ended the hopes of third seed Venus with a 7-6, 6-4 victory.
World number three Serena Williams and fourth-ranked Ana Ivanovic withdrew from the WTA Championships on Friday.
Top seed Ash Barty rallied from a set down to power into the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Masters on Friday.
Russia retained their Fed Cup title on Sunday after Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Spanish number one Anabel Medina Garrigues in a thrilling match to take an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Russian seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova struggled past Australian 30th seed Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 to book her place in the French Open final on Thursday. Kuznetsova will take on compatriot Dinara Safina, the world number one, in an all Russian final on Saturday.
World number one Dinara Safina downed Slovakian 20th seed Dominika Cibulkova 6-3 6-3 to reach the French Open final on Thursday. Safina clinched victory on her second match point after one hour 41 minutes to keep alive her dreams of winning a maiden Grand Slam title.
Russian seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova held off a bold challenge by Serena Willams to beat the American world number two 7-6, 5-7, 7-5 and reach the French Open semi-finals on Wednesday. The 2006 Roland Garros runner-up will face Australian Samantha Stosur, seeded 30th, for a place in Saturday's final.
The 91-ranked Indian ace was well and truly beaten 4-6, 6-7 (3-7) by 95-ranked Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva in Paris on Tuesday.
Chinese veteran Peng Shuai beat American Alison Riske 7-6(3), 6-2 in the final of the Tianjin Open to capture her first Tour title on Sunday.
Svetlana Kuznetsova opened the defence of her Sydney International title with a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 victory over Irina-Camelia Begu on Sunday as the Australian Open warm-up event suffered a pair of big-name withdrawals.
World number one Dinara Safina swept to her second claycourt title in as many weeks with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki in the Madrid Open final on Sunday. After her triumph over compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova in last week's Rome final, the powerful Russian top seed sealed another comfortable win and looks in fine form leading up to the French Open at the end of this month.
World number one Dinara Safina took a first step towards a second consecutive claycourt title by battling to a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Li Na at the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
World number one Dinara Safina gained swift revenge over Svetlana Kuznetsova on Saturday, thrashing her fellow Russian 6-3, 6-2 to win the Italian Open in their second consecutive final meeting.
Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone gave Italy a shock 2-0 lead over champions Russia, while the United States and the Czech Republic were level at 1-1 after day one in the Fed Cup semi-finals on Saturday. Pennetta swept past an out-of-sorts Anna Chakvetadze 6-4, 6-0 in windy conditions at Castellaneta Marina before Schiavone fought back to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was beaten 6-2, 6-2 by Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki in the second round of the Eastbourne International on Wednesday.
India's Sania Mirza and her doubles partner Barbora Strycova from Czech Republic notched up a hard-fought win over Gabriela Dabrowski and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez to advance to the third round of the Wuhan Open tennis tournament in Wuhan on Tuesday. The Indo-Czech pair, who clinched their second title last week at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, edged out their Canadian-Spanish rivals 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 in the second round match that lasted for an hour and 15 minutes.
Champion Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Russian Vera Zvonareva completed crushing victories on Friday to set up a title clash in the final of the WTA event at Indian Wells. Top seed Ivanovic pummelled 17-year-old Russian Anastasia Pavyluchenkova 6-2, 6-3 in the evening semi-final after fourth-seeded Zvonareva had swept aside her doubles partner Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 6-3.
American fifth seed Serena Williams withdrew from her Italian Open quarter-final with French qualifier Alize Cornet on Friday because of a back injury, organisers said.
Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva proved too strong for an understrength Chinese team and handed the champions a 2-0 lead in their Fed Cup first round tie on Saturday.
Maria Sharapova captured her first claycourt title when she defeated Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 7-6, 6-3 in the final of the Amelia Island Championships on Sunday. Sharapova became the first woman to win three titles this season following her success at the Australian Open and Qatar Open and improved her 2008 win-loss record to 22-1.
Fancied fourth seed Andy Murray suffered a fair-and-square five-set defeat at the Australian Open after almost half Monday's field had reached the quarter-finals when their opponents retired injured or ill.
Defending champion Serena Williams battled to a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over world number four Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach the Sony Ericsson Open final on Thursday. The American, who had to cope with back trouble along with the hot and humid conditions, is bidding to equal Steffi Graf's record of five title successes in the tournament.
Jelena Jankovic reached the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open after Elena Dementieva retired with a back injury.
Former champion Maria Sharapova maintained her perfect start to the season to join fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semi-finals of the Pacific Life Open on Wednesday. Sharapova, the Australian Open champion and fourth seed, stormed back from 5-2 down in the first set to beat holder Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-6, 6-1.
Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova, holder Daniela Hantuchova and second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the Pacific Life Open quarter-finals in contrasting styles on Tuesday. Fourth seed Sharapova, winner at Indian Wells in 2006, maintained her perfect start to the season but had to work hard to beat Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko 6-2 5-7 6-4.
Big-serving Andy Roddick crashed out of the Pacific Life Open on Sunday while second-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova advanced after a battling 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win over Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova. Much smoother progress was made by Swiss world number one Roger Federer, Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova and women's title-holder Daniela Hantuchova, who all won their respective matches in straight sets.
World No 14 Marin Cilic is through to the semi-finals of the Kremlin Cup after the Croat easily beat Russia's Andrei Kuznetsov 6-2, 6-1 on Friday.
Top-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic withdrew from the Qatar Open on Thursday after injuring her left ankle beating Olga Govortsova of Belarus the previous day.
Czech Lucie Safarova stunned world number five Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-3, 6-4 to set up a semi-final clash with Belgium's Justine Henin at the Paris Open on Friday.
Top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova overcame an error-ridden performance to beat China's Peng Shuai 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 on Thursday to advance to the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open on a clear and cool day in Key Biscayne, Florida.
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki and former World No 1 Venus Williams ensured Auckland Classic organisers' dream final remained on track with the duo both recording comfortable victories in their first round matches on Tuesday.
Jelena Jankovic won her second tour title of the year after thrashing fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-3, 6-2 at the China Open.
Fourth seed Dinara Safina overpowered fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3 to win the Pan Pacific Open title on Sunday.
Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova muscled their way to straight-set wins on Saturday to set up an all-Russian final at the Pan Pacific Open.
Top seed Jelena Jankovic was bundled out of the Pan Pacific Open in a 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 defeat by Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in Friday's quarter-finals. The defeat ended the Serb's hopes of recapturing the world number one ranking from Serena Williams this week following her recent loss to the American in US Open final.
Former winner Maria Sharapova, her Russian compatriot Anna Chakvetadze and Serb Ana Ivanovic joined world number one Justine Henin in the semi-finals of the WTA Championships on Thursday.
Former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova recovered from a slow start to beat Romanian teenager Sorana Cirstea 7-6, 6-1 to reach the third round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday.
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