American Venus Williams has pulled out of this year's Wimbledon because of a back injury, the five-times singles champion said on Tuesday.
Serena Williams sets up an all-American semi-final against teenager Madison Keys.
On Wednesday, planet Venus put on a rare show for sky gazers by moving across the face of the sun, producing a silhouette that no one alive today will likely see again. The next one won't be for another 105 years.
Venus Williams fell short of a happy ending to her storybook run at the US Open after her vaunted serve deserted her in the semi-finals against defending champion Kim Clijsters on Friday.
The 19-year-old went down 3-6, 3-6 to Venus Williams in the quarter-finals of the Watson Water Champions Challenge.
Images from Day 1 of the 2020 French Open, in Paris, on Sunday.
India's Yuki Bhambri and his Dutch partner Robin Haase squandered three match points in the deciding set to go down against Nicolas Barrientos of Colombia and Rafael Matos of Brazil in the Australian Open men's doubles first round in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Williams's bra was a clear violation of the All England Lawn Tennis Club's dress rules which state that 'any undergarments that either are or can be visible during play (including due to perspiration) must also be completely white except for a single trim of colour no wider than one centimetre (10mm)'.
Venus Williams secured her place in the semi-finals of the WTA Championships when she completed her round-robin matches with a comprehensive 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 win over her sister Serena on Thursday. It was the first time Serena had lost a set 6-0 since the 2007 Miami final, after which she recovered to defeat Justine Henin for the title.
Venus Williams is planning to return to Wimbledon next year to make her 20th appearance confident in the belief that there is no such thing in life as impossible. The oldest woman in the draw at 36, Williams lost 6-4 6-4 to Germany's Angelique Kerber on Thursday but has enjoyed something of a renaissance in reaching her first grand slam semi-final since 2010. She returned to the world's top 10 last year following a frustrating run of results since she revealed in 2011 that she had been diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, an auto-immune disease that leaves her short of energy.
The two players bowed out in the quarter-finals of the Advanta Championships in Philadelphia.
The event has not been witnessed in the last 122 years.
World number one Serena Williams survived a scare to beat China's Li Na 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 on Wednesday and reach the Sony Ericsson Open semi-finals -- where she will meet her sister Venus.
The planet will transit across the face of the Sun between 10:46am and 4:51pm.
Images from Day 6 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Saturday.
But matches between Venus and Serena are captivating, highly charged yet often disappointing affairs.
Venus and Serena Williams kept up their semi-final date with commanding victories over Vera Zvonareva and Anastasia Rodionova respectively at the WTA Tier II Bangalore Open on Friday. Venus won 6-4, 6-3, while Serena was through at 6-1, 6-4.
Maria Sharapova missed out on a third successive 'double-bagel' but humbled Venus Williams 6-1, 6-3 to charge into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Friday.
Defending champion Venus Williams eased into the third round of the Dubai Championships on Tuesday with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Germany's Sabine Lisicki. Top seed Caroline Wozniacki had to recover from 1-5 and save a set point to defeat Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 7-6 while second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova received a walkover when Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues withdrew with a back injury.
After a long rain delay Germany's Sabine Lisicki made quick work of Venus Williams, strolling into the second round of the Rogers Cup on Monday after routing the American 6-0 6-3.
With Serena bidding to become just the fourth woman to win all four grand slams in the same year, the US Open hype machine that already had been in top gear is now set to crank into overdrive.
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IMAGES from the matches played at Miami Miasters in Key Biscayne, Florida, on Wednesday
Venus Williams, the 2000 and 2001 champion was shocked by Croatia's Karolina Sprem in the second round at Wimbledon.
The top seed was forced to dig deep into her vast reservoirs of experience to stave off Pliskova's challenge and emerge a 7-5, 7-6(6) winner against the gutsy Czech.
American Williams, seeded 10th and competing in her 20th French Open, powered 22 winners and converted six of 13 break points as she picked apart the 60th-ranked Belgian in just over an hour.
South Korean Chung Hyeon managed to hang around against Roger Federer a little longer this time around, but only just, as the Swiss maestro advanced to the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open 7-5, 6-1 on Thursday.
The win makes her the oldest woman to reach the third round at the French Open since Billie-Jean King in 1982.
After four days of play, the French Open was left without a Williams sister in the draw on Wednesday when former runner-up Venus joined 2002 champion Serena in making an early exit.
The sun beat down from a cloudless Parisian sky on Sunday as the French Open began with a sultry Venus Williams raising the on-court temperature and French favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga almost getting caught cold.
On June 6, 2012, Venus will pass across the face of the sun, producing a silhouette that no one alive today will likely see again.
A big serve to the backhand side clattered off the racket of third-seeded twice champion Venus Williams and the Belgian, returning to the grand slam stage after more than two years away, had a 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 win and a spot in the quarter-finals.
Sania Mirza will take on Venus Williams in the opening singles match at the Watson Water Champions Challenge.
American Venus Williams marked her return from an abdominal injury with an impressive 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Germany's Andrea Petkovic at the Eastbourne championships on Monday.
Serena Williams summoned all her fighting qualities to beat Victoria Azarenka 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 at the Australian Open on Wednesday after sister Venus's exit. Li Na earlier stunned Venus to become just the second Chinese to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam.
Champion Venus Williams powered through to her seventh Wimbledon final with a 6-1, 7-6 victory over Russian Elena Dementieva.
Champion Venus Williams and second seed Rafael Nadal survived a few anxious moments to reach the third round of Wimbledon. Williams, seeking a fifth singles title at the All England Club, had to draw on all her big-match experience to repel world number 92 Anne Keothavong 7-5, 6-2 while Nadal also endured some first-set jitters before toppling rising Latvian Ernests Gulbis 5-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-3.
