Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova battled back from the brink of defeat to reach the second round of the US Open at Flushing Meadow.

US Open Championship, Flushing Meadows, New York

Unseeded Daniela Hantuchova became the first player to reach the third round of the women’s singles when her scheduled opponent Elena Bovina withdrew with an abdominal strain.

ELENA DEMENTIEVA may well soon have the game to be world number one, but she will have to wait a bit longer to become Wimbledon champion.

French Open tennis results:

World number one Roger Federer was knocked out of the French Open after a straight-sets defeat by three-times champion Gustavo Kuerten.

Serena Williams was greeted with jeers and whistles but then eased into the fourth round of the French Open with a 6-0 6-4 victory over Croatia’s Silvija Talaja.

French Open results, Roland Garros, Paris:

Fourth seed Amelie Mauresmo continued her inexorable march through the early rounds of the Australian Open with another powerful display at Melbourne Park.

Justine Henin-Hardenne has been laid low with a stomach upset and had to battle hard for her second round victory over Camille Pin in the Australian Open.

Fourth seed Amelie Mauresmo cruised into the third round of the Australian Open with a straight sets victory over Slovakian Ludmila Cervanova at Melbourne Park.

Justine Henin-Hardenne, the head girl of women’s tennis, taught 15-year-old Australian Olivia Lukaszewicz a harsh lesson about what it takes to mix it with the grown-ups at a grand slam.

World number one Justine Henin-Hardenne taught 15-year-old schoolgirl Olivia Lukaszewicz a harsh lesson about life in a Grand Slam – but not all the seeds were as impressive on the first day of the Australian Open.

The decibels diminished but Maria Sharapova underlined her status as the women’s game’s latest big noise by roaring into the third round at Wimbledon today.

KIM CLIJSTERS kept her mind clear ahead of her victory over experienced Amanda Coetzer in the Australia Open with a spot of Oprah Winfrey.

WHAT a pity the clash of Venus Williams and Elena Bovina didn’t happen at the beginning of the Trilogy Challenge instead of almost at the end by which stage the crowd, who had paid a lot of money for the privilege of sitting in the Simmonscourt arena at the RDS, had become accustomed to one-sided matches favouring the Americans.

The USA have taken the inaugural Collins Cup at the RDS.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA flew out of Dublin at 5am yesterday but that didn’t mean there weren’t many other attractions awaiting the fans at the Trilogy Challenge in the RDS.

The dominance of Venus and Serena Williams on women’s tennis was further enhanced as both won their matches at the US Open last night, albeit in contrasting styles.

Jelena Dokic’s US Open campaign fizzled out with a distracted and dispirited day while rain disrupted the evening session of the third day’s play.

The seedings for the 2002 Wimbledon Championships have been announced by the All-England Club in London.

French Open results

Andre Agassi has beaten Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu at Roland Garros to progress to the next round.

Anna Kournikova survived a scare in the first round of the Open Gaz de France tournament in Paris.

Top seed Martina Hingis continued her quest to win the only grand slam to have been denied her with a 7-5 6-1 defeat of Australian Rachel McQuillan at the French Open.

Top seed Martina Hingis is through to the quarter-finals of the Tennis Masters Series in Indian Wells.

Anna Kournikova has been in tears - but not, she insisted, about the ending of her doubles partnership with Martina Hingis.