Serena confirmed her entry to the tournament she won for a seventh time on her last appearance in 2017.
Serena Williams and defending champion Maria Sharapova remained on course for a heavyweight Madrid Open final.
Maria Sharapova suffered a shock 7-6(4), 6-3 defeat to compatriot and wildcard Daria Gavrilova.
Here is a list of athletes, some of who just turned up the heat while some created ripples with their bold photos. Scroll down to find out who these athletes are...
High-profile sports romances have always caught attention and are adored... until it comes time to split in the public eye. Golfer Rory McIlroy and tennis star Caroline Wozniacki's split has surprised many. Rediff.com looks back on some other celebrity breakups.
Serena Williams was the highest paid female athlete for a third consecutive year in 2018, according to an annual list published by Forbes on Tuesday that was dominated by tennis players.
Rafael Nadal will have his work cut out when play begins next week, not on the Caja Magica's three red dust courts, but on gaming consoles.
World number one Rafael Nadal begins his French Open title defence, on Monday, with a clash against Italy's Simone Bolelli on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Heavier balls to blame for slower game: Nadal
The 28-year-old said beating American great Williams was the finest win of her career, outstripping her upset of world number one Ash Barty at last year's US Open.
From Caroline Wozniacki's pink hair to Freddie Mercury lookalike at the London Marathon, Rediff.com has it all snapped right here!
World No 2 Serena Williams shook out any cobwebs from four months away from tennis with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over France's Pauline Parmentier in the first round of the Auckland Classic on Tuesday.
World No 10 Rory McIlroy was pinching himself after ending one of the most turbulent weeks of his life by winning the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Sunday.
Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis has said that Li Na's retirement was a loss to world tennis, while also crediting the Chinese ace of raising the game's profile in her home country and across Asia.
Although they registered contrasting wins, Serbian tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Jelena Jankovic marked a good day for Serbs at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old Wimbledon champion, who climbed to the top of the WTA rankings on Monday, hardly broke sweat against the Frenchwoman, ranked 20th in the world, on her way to victory in an hour and 20 minutes.
Factbox on Romanian Simona Halep, who beat Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to win the French Open title on Saturday:
Here is a list of US Open women's singles champions since the open era began in 1968:
Five teenagers ended last year inside the world's top 50, led by number 12 Sloane Stephens, and the sight of 16-year-old Belinda Bencic pushing world number four Li Na hard at the Australian Open suggests big things for her future.
It's the most popular Grand Slam across popular social networking sites
A resurgent Svetlana Kuznetsova stunned former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in an absorbing encounter on Rod Laver Arena to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 victory on Monday.
Canadian youngster Eugenie Bouchard is the latest tennis player to catch the fancy of fans, while regulars on the circuit, like Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Daniela Hantuchova, still continue to be the top attractions.
The beautiful and supportive faces of WAGS (wives and girlfriends) prove a saving grace for the weary men on the field. Take a look at the coolest WAGS around.
Rafael Nadal reclaimed top spot in the men's ATP rankings on Monday
Victoria Duval is growing in more than just stature. The animated 17-year-old American bowed out of the US Open.
Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas secured the biggest win of his career when he sent Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic packing in the third round of the Rogers Cup with a stunning 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 win on Thursday.
Grand Slam winners Samantha Stosur and Petra Kvitova strolled into the second round of the Dubai championships with straight sets wins on Tuesday after Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka withdrew due to a foot injury.
Rediff.com takes stock of the seeded casualties on the first day of the Australian Open.
Adam Scott ended decades of Australian agony when he became the first player from his country to win the Masters with a high-quality playoff victory over Angel Cabrera at a rain-soaked Augusta National on Sunday.
Newly-crowned Masters champion Adam Scott will win more majors than any other Australian, according to compatriot Greg Norman, who famously missed out on the famed green jacket three times.
Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams will be fit to play at the Brisbane International, which begins this weekend, after injury scares, organisers said on Thursday.
Sara Errani beat doubles partner Roberta Vinci 6-3, 6-3 in a subdued all-Italian semi-final at the Dubai championships on Friday.
- At 18 years and 109 days, Bencic is the youngest player to win a premier-level title since Caroline Wozniacki won in New Haven almost seven years ago - Uzbek Istomin wins men's title
Czech Petra Kvitova defeated titleholder Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-4 in the Dubai Championships on Thursday to set up a semi-final against Caroline Wozniacki.
Serena Williams will be wary of another semi-final slip-up when she takes to the Arthur Ashe Stadium court on Thursday to face 10th seed Karolina Pliskova for a spot in the US Open final.
PHOTOS from day seven of the Wimbledon championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Monday
The year's final grand slam began with an upset as 13th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet was upended 6-2 6-2 6-3 by Britain's world number 84 Kyle Edmund at the U.S. Open on Monday. Gasquet, who has reached the last 16 at Flushing Meadows four times in his career, was outplayed throughout and his U.S. Open experience lasted just one hour, 41 minutes.
Serena and Venus Williams set up a tantalising semi-final against each other after both won twice on Friday in the rain-affected Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina.
Agnieszka Radwanska continued her pre-Wimbledon tune-up by reaching the final of Eastbourne grasscourt tournament with a 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-2 win over America's Sloane Stephens on Friday.
Facing the media for the first time since his controversial withdrawal at PGA National, McIlroy said it soon dawned on him that he had made the wrong decision.
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