US Open champion Naomi Osaka continued to flourish in front of her home crowd at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, as she comfortably dispatched Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to reach the semi-finals.
The retired American ace said women were willing to play five-set matches but used the entertainment industry to highlight her stance that athletes will get paid the same regardless of the duration of the matches.
Spain are the first nation to join exempted France, Australia, Czech Republic and hosts Hungary in the revamped finals taking place in April.
Sania Mirza became the first Indian to climb to the top of the WTA doubles ranking after she teamed up with Swiss great Martina Hingis to claim the Family Circle Cup title on Sunday.
The timing of professional tennis's return will reveal whether the tours and federations are more interested in making money or looking after the health of players, Australia's John Millman said. The professional game has been suspended since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the International Tennis Federation, WTA and ATP have put back plans for a resumption until August at the earliest.
Tennis world number one Novak Djokovic pledged one million euros ($1.10 million) to help buy ventilators and other medical equipment in his native Serbia on Friday, joining a list of other athletes in the fight against coronavirus.
While tennis is a lucrative sport for those at the top -- the 2020 Australian Open singles champions each took home A$4.12 million ($2.52 million) -- those in the lower echelons often struggle to make ends meet.
The tournament is the first in five months since the Tour was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Martic said she felt the effects of not playing competitive tennis for so long.
Raducanu falls in first match since US Open triumph.
Victoria Azarenka's return to the top has been a long road full of setbacks and challenges but she knuckled down, swallowed her ego and now finds herself back in a Grand Slam final after a seven-year absence.
Murray seeks assurance on quarantine issues before US Open.
Long before Simona Halep's demolition job on Serena Williams at the WTA Finals, the Romanian was already winning over another of the game's greats.
Agnieszka Radwanska collected her 20th career WTA title after a dominant 6-4, 6-2 victory over Britain's Johanna Konta in the China Open final on Sunday.
Former world number four and Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova announced her retirement on Tuesday.
No professional tournaments have been held since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown will continue until August.
Halep's near-flawless display at the All England Club marked a spectacular return to form after her world ranking dropped from first to seventh between mid-January and July.
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis on Thursday claimed that the decision to end their astonishing partnership was due to the failure to achieve the "desired results" and added they would play together one last time in the season-ending WTA Finals in October.
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.
India will field a second-string tennis contingent in this month's Asian Games after allowing frontline players, including Leander Paes and Sania Mirza, to play on the professional tours instead to revive their rankings.
Former world number one Andy Murray said on Wednesday tennis will be one of the last sports to return to action after the world has recovered from the pandemic and Jabeur expects the Tours to restart in September.
Factbox on American Sloane Stephens, who beat compatriot Madison Keys 6-3 6-0 to win her first U.S. Open singles title on Saturday:
Serena Williams was sent spinning out of the Western and Southern Open by Maria Sakkari on Tuesday after the Greek rallied from a set down to beat the 23-times Grand Slam champion 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-1 and reach the quarter-finals.
Latvian Jelena Ostapenko believes she is getting better with every round and hopes to showcase the best of her abilities against five-time champion Venus Williams in the Wimbledon quarter-finals later on Tuesday.
Former world number one Venus Williams produced a vintage display to outclass Netherlands' Arantxa Rus in straight sets and storm into the second round of the Yarra Valley Classic.
Of the top 15 on Forbes' list of best-paid female athletes, 12 were tennis players. Indian badminton player PV Sindhu came in tied for 13th ($5.5 million), with Thai golfer Ariya Jutanugarn ($5.3 million) rounding out the top 15.
World number two Simona Halep will take the final decision on her participation in the US Open after playing this week's WTA Tour event in Prague, the Romanian said on Sunday.
But after those events, Federer will take a training break, the paper reported.
World number one Serena Williams slammed Shamil Tarpishchev for using "extremely sexist, racist and bullying" comments after the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) president described her and sister Venus as the "Williams brothers".
Britain's Johanna Konta withstood a fightback by Madison Keys and third seed Agnieszka Radwanska beat Ukraine's Elina Svitolina on Saturday to reach to the China Open final.
Former number one Martina Hingis is not impressed by the current crop of young players whose main focus is on hitting harder, rather than developing an all-round game, the Swiss veteran said.
It proved a happy Halloween for Czech Petra Kvitova after she made the most of coming back from the dead to set up a title-match showdown with Agnieszka Radwanksa at the WTA Finals.
Jennifer Brady spent two weeks in hard quarantine gathering mental strength for her tilt at a maiden Grand Slam title and will hope there is plenty in reserve when she takes on Naomi Osaka in Saturday's Australian Open final.
The United States Tennis Association will hold the US Open this year without fans amid the COVID-19 outbreak even though some top players have expressed concerns about attending the tournament due to the virus, according to multiple reports.
'We love our sport but it puts everything into perspective'
Britain's Johanna Konta will become the first British woman to reach the top 10 of the WTA rankings for 32 years on Monday after reaching the China Open final on Saturday.
Images from Day 11 of the 2021 French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Wednesday.
Following his maiden appearance at the US Open, Saketh Myneni achieved a career-high rank of 137 in singles in the latest list, issued by the ATP.
Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu's Indian Wells triumph was not shown on television in her home country but that did not dampen the excitement across a nation where the future of women's tennis is suddenly looking as bright as ever.
The unseeded Indo-Canadian pair defeated their fancied rivals 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 in a round of 16 tie of the ATP Masters 1000 event.
Naomi Osaka said they had been on vacation in the Turks and Caicos Islands when the incident happened.
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