Sharapova wanted to test her level against the leading players but found the answer a rather brutal one.

Venus Williams is through to a Wimbledon final for the first time since 2009, when she lost to sister Serena Williams.

Johanna Konta battled back from from the brink to win a three-set thriller against Simona Halep and become Britain's first women's singles semi-finalist at Wimbledon since 1978.

Rafael Nadal crashed out of Wimbledon after a dramatic, marathon five-set defeat to Gilles Muller.

Petra Kvitova hopes she can be an inspiration to others after making a winning comeback from her horrific ordeal.

Angelique Kerber became the first women's top seed in the Open era to lose in the opening round of the French Open on Sunday.

World number one and top seed Angelique Kerber suffered an unexpected defeat to Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome.

Venus Williams admits she will be up against the fiercest competitor in the game when she faces her sister Serena in the Australian Open final tomorrow morning (tomorrow 8.30am, live on Eurosport).

Serena Williams insists she has nothing to lose when she takes on Britain's Johanna Konta at the Australian Open.

Defending champion Angelique Kerber bowed out in the Australian Open fourth round after being blown away by American Coco Vandeweghe.

Roger Federer admits his Australian Open comeback was harder than he expected after the 17-time grand slam champion battled past Jurgen Melzer to reach the second round.

From the wholly unlikely, like Tiger Woods winning another Major or the Lions whitewashing the All Blacks, to the eminently probable, like Usain Bolt and Leo Messi reemphasising their credentials as wonders of the sporting world, we examine who might be rewriting the record books, month by month, in 2017.

Karolina Pliskova is through to her first grand slam semi-final after easing past Croatia’s Ana Konjuh at the US Open last night.

Angelique Kerber took another step towards becoming world number one as she sailed past 2015 finalist Roberta Vinci to reach the US Open semi-finals.

She beat Martina Navratilova's previous all-time best.

Serena Williams has warned her rivals she is hungrier than ever to win more grand slam titles after the American beat Angelique Kerber to be crowned Wimbledon champion again.

Serena Williams has vowed to cling to the world number one ranking but questions may be asked about her claim to that status if Angelique Kerber takes her scalp in today’s Wimbledon final.

Serena Williams has brushed off suggestions female players do not deserve equal prize money to men after her 48-minute thrashing of Elena Vesnina.

Andy Murray suffered his eighth grand slam final defeat as Novak Djokovic finally took the French Open title and with it his place in the highest pantheon of tennis.

Andy Murray produced one of his best grand slam performances to defeat defending champion Stan Wawrinka and become the first British man to reach the French Open final for 79 years.

Garbine Muguruza stormed to her first grand slam title at the French Open to leave Serena Williams waiting once again for her moment of history.

Serena Williams and Andy Murray were the big losers in the Miami Open as they were dumped out in the third and fourth round respectively on a day of upsets in Florida.

Novak Djokovic’s sixth Australian Open crown draws him level with Roy Emerson while his 11th overall means he climbs to joint-fifth on the all-time list alongside Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg.

Rafael Nadal was dumped out of the Miami Open yesterday as he suffered a shock defeat to fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

Defending champion Venus Williams suffered her first defeat at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for 10 years on a day of upsets.

Caroline Wozniacki made a long overdue return to tennis’ biggest stage by stunning Maria Sharapova to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open.

Maria Sharapova survived an attritional battle against Romania’s Alexandra Dulgheru to reach the third round of the US Open but Agnieszka Radwanska became the first major casualty.

Eugenie Bouchard is convinced she can win Wimbledon in just her second full year on tour.

Andy Murray vowed to work harder than ever after a chastening loss to Grigor Dimitrov ended his Wimbledon title defence in the quarter-finals yesterday.

Teenage sensation Nick Kyrgios yesterday sensationally dumped two-time champion and second seed Rafael Nadal out of Wimbledon to reach his first grand slam quarter-final last night.

Brilliant German Angelique Kerber scored an inspired Wimbledon victory over Maria Sharapova to extinguish the Russian’s hope of winning back-to-back grand slam titles.

Sabine Lisicki moved into the fourth round at Wimbledon as last year’s runner-up again showed her liking for the grass in south-west London.

Serena Williams’ demise yesterday turned the ripples into shockwaves at a French Open full of surprises as Maria Sharapova assumed the mantle of title favourite.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal survived a serious scare against Radek Stepanek before recovering to reach the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Ana Ivanovic 'broke a spell' to post a magical win over Serena Williams in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Serena Williams gained revenge for her Australian Open defeat by sweeping past Sloane Stephens and into the quarter-finals of the US Open.