Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Thousands of mask-free spectators flocked into the stadium
David Ferrer sent local favourite Bernard Tomic packing with an easy 6-3, 7-5 win in the opening round of the Brisbane International on Monday.
Serena Williams' return to the WTA Tour following the birth of her first child will be the 'greatest challenge' of her career
She should win her place thanks to good results, says Radwanska
Sania ousted from Qatar Total Open.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova has been invited to play at the Madrid Open in May, which takes place less than two weeks after her 15-month doping ban expires, tournament organisers said on Wednesday.
Dominic Thiem fell in straight sets to Rafael Nadal in the 2018 French Open final but took the 12-time Roland Garros champion to four sets last June. On Sunday, the Austrian appeared to be heading towards a four-set victory before Djokovic mounted a spectacular comeback to deny him again.
Serena Williams has gone 3-2 in matches that all lasted three sets and have taken a toll on her weary legs.
Murray pulled out of the Australian Open on Thursday having failed to recover from the hip injury that had dogged him since the summer of 2017, following his quarter-final exit at Wimbledon in July.
Victoria Azarenka cannot wait to renew her rivalry with close friend Serena Williams in what could shape up to become a future battle of the tennis mums.
Organisers played a wrong national anthem for Moldova ahead of their tie against Belgium in Sydney. Denis Shapovalov won the battle of the next generation against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas to help Canada to an emphatic 3-0 victory in the inaugural ATP Cup men's team event in Brisbane on Friday.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova has been handed a wildcard to the Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Birmingham in June.
Images from Day 6 of the 2022 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
Serbian Djokovic, who 12 months ago had elbow surgery, won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2018, before lifting this year's Australian Open crown, to add to his tally of Grand Slam singles titles and reclaim top spot in the rankings.
'If Federer were to win the Open, if he's not the athlete of the year on every kind of major publication it will be the greatest injustice I've ever seen for tennis'
Belgium's Justine Henin made a triumphant return to professional tennis with a 7-5, 7-5 win over Russia's Nadia Petrova in the Brisbane International first round on Monday.
IMAGES from the matches played at the Miami Open on Thursday
Serena Williams shook off some COVID-19 layoff rust to grind out a 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-6(0) win over Dutch qualifier Arantxa Rus on Monday to move into the third round of the Western and Southern Open.
Switzerland's former world number one Martina Hingis said her renewed hunger for competition inspired her forthcoming comeback in doubles but she has no plans to return in singles.
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza, making a comeback from a wrist injury, went down fighting against her nemesis Ana Chakvetadze, resulting in team Asia-Pacific's 0-2 defeat against Team Russia at World Team Challenge tournament in Hong Kong on Thursday.
Serena Williams made her first public appearance since the birth of her daughter Alexis Olympia in September, at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York City.
Images from Day 3 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday.
India's tennis ace Sania Mirza staged a great comeback after losing the first set to beat Ukrainian Mariya Koryttseva in the first round of the Indian Wells tennis tournament on Thursday. The 87th ranked Indian recovered in time after losing the opening set to beat world no. 96 Koryttseva 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Images from Day 6 of the 2021 US Open in New York on Saturday.
Victoria Azarenka's hopes of a remarkable comeback Australian Open victory crumbled under Angelique Kerber's winners on Wednesday but the Belarusian was pleased with solid three weeks Down Under that made her feel she had turned a corner.
Sania Mirza lost the semifinal 2-6, 4-6 to Tatiana Golovin of France at the Japan Open.
Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Rogers Cup with a sore left arm on Thursday, putting the five-time grand slam champion's US Open participation in doubt.
Pakistan's ex-cricket captain Shoaib Malik says he is proud his Indian wife Sania Mirza has become the world's top-ranked doubles tennis player, adding it is honour for both countries.
Sharapova was granted a wildcard entry to the last Grand Slam of the season but received a tough first-round draw in the shape of Romanian Halep.
Despite former world No 1 Serena Williams not being in action for almost a year, British No 1 Johanna Konta still views Williams as the player to beat at the Australian Open in 2018.
Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra became the first Indian pairing to qualify for the mega event in Tokyo, beating World No. 8 duo of Sang-Su Lee and Jihee Jeon 4-2 in the final of the Asian Qualification Tournament in Doha.
The All India Tennis Association says an unflattering perception is being created about it in the wake of Mahesh Bhupathi's removal as captain when it actually selected Rohit Rajpal because the ITF, till the last moment, had not given the impression that it would move the Davis Cup tie out of Islamabad.
Rediff.com gives you a quick flashback, in pictures of the month gone by...
Kei Nishikori swept aside Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup.
World No 3 Roger Federer has delayed his ATP World Tour return by a month and plans to make his comeback from knee surgery at the Monte Carlo Masters in April.
World number one Novak Djokovic's unbeaten run of 22 matches came to an end on Saturday when he was upset 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro in the BNP Paribas Open semi-finals in Indian Wells.
'No words, games, or actions will ever stop me from reaching my own dreams. And I have many'
Rafael Nadal's fist-pumping comeback reached a new high with his victory at the Mexican Open on Sunday, giving tennis fans hope the 11-time Grand Slam champion can return to the top of the game.
Ankita Raina and Karman Kaur Thandi will have to punch above their weight when the battle to qualify for Fed Cup tennis tournament's World Group II,
