Serena Williams wasted little time or energy in progressing to round three of Wimbledon as she blasted her way past Hungary’s Melinda Czink on Centre Court.

Serena Williams vowed to make a swift return to the practice court after crashing out of the Australian Open today as Maria Sharapova beat Sabine Lisicki in three sets.

Serena Williams’ winning run at the Australian Open came to a shuddering halt today after she lost her fourth-round clash to Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets.

Serena Williams can still see room for improvement in her game despite racking up her 17th successive win at the Australian Open today.

Kim Clijsters suffered a worrying injury setback as the second seed abandoned her opening match at the Rogers Cup in Toronto last night.

Reigning champion Kim Clijsters insisted her game was still a work in progress despite easing into the third round of the US Open with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Australian Sally Peers.

ANDY MURRAY yesterday defied “brutal conditions” to cruise into the second round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows.

Eighth seed Nadia Petrova overcame a poor showing in the first set to book her place in the second round of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven.

Former world number one Dinara Safina claimed back-to-back wins for the first time since the Australian Open in January to reach the third round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal.

Maria Sharapova recovered from a poor second set to dump fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova out of the Cincinnati Open in the first round on Tuesday night.

SERENA WILLIAMS was delighted to meet some brief resistance as she made a confident start to her defence of the women’s singles title at Wimbledon yesterday.

Serena Williams today admitted she is taking great pleasure from silencing those who claimed she and sister Venus would never again hold the top two spots in the world rankings.

Second seed Dinara Safina retired from her fourth-round match with Maria Kirilenko today due to injury.

Nadia Petrova claimed her second big-name scalp in as many rounds with an upset win over third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova at the Australian Open today.

Justine Henin today fought back from a set down to keep her Australian Open title quest going just a month after returning from retirement.

American teenager Melanie Oudin knocked out former champion Maria Sharapova to continue her amazing run at the US Open.

Ana Ivanovic demonstrated some of the form which made her world number-one as she booked her place in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

TOP seed Rafael Nadal last night broke another French Open record as he stayed on course for a fifth successive title with a routine straight-sets victory over Teimuraz Gabashvili in the second round yesterday.

TOP seed Rafael Nadal yesterday created a French Open record for consecutive wins in the men’s singles – but he admitted he was not at his all-conquering best in his straight-sets triumph over qualifier Marcos Daniel.

Top seed Dinara Safina confirmed her status as title favourite by crushing British number one Anne Keothavong on day two of the French Open.

Second seed Serena Williams has been dumped out of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in her first game in Rome after suffering a 6-2 2-6 6-1 defeat to Patty Schnyder in the second round.

Elena Dementieva has shrugged off suggestions she is the favourite to win the women’s title at the Australian Open after she extended her winning run to 14 matches with an easy 6-2 6-2 fourth-round win over Dominika Cibulkova.

Second seed Serena Williams eased into the fourth round of the Australian Open today while her sister’s nemesis Carla Suarez Navarro’s dream run continues in her first appearance in the Melbourne grand slam.

JELENA JANKOVIC survived a second-set scare before advancing to the third round of the US Open with victory over Sofia Arvidsson yesterday.

Jelena Jankovic survived a second-set scare before advancing to the third round of the US Open with victory over Sofia Arvidsson.

Jelena Jankovic strides out on to Centre Court at Wimbledon today hoping to avoid the fate of fellow Serbian and world number one Ana Ivanovic.

ANA IVANOVIC crashed out of Wimbledon admitting she must come to terms with her new status as the prized scalp of women’s tennis.

Ana Ivanovic’s troubled passage through Wimbledon was brought to a dramatic halt today when she became the biggest casualty of this year’s Championships so far.

Svetlana Kuznetsova celebrated her 23rd birthday today with a battling victory over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the third round at Wimbledon.

Top seed Maria Sharapova admitted she felt like a different player in the second set of today’s third-round win over Karin Knapp, as she finally found some form at this year’s French Open.

MARTINA NAVRATILOVA exited Wimbledon for the last time yesterday, having failed to break the record for the most titles.

Second seed Kim Clijsters booked her place in the last 16 at Wimbledon – but was made to work hard for a 6-3 6-2 victory by Jie Zheng of China.

Former champion Martina Hingis will make what is sure to be an emotional return to Centre Court later today.

BOTH Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova made light work of their first-round opponents at Wimbledon — before then reigniting the debate over equal prize money.

Kim Clijsters was handed a walkover into the third round after her opponent Viktoria Kutuzova was forced to withdraw because of a viral infection.

Zi Yan and Jie Zheng saved two championship points as they claimed the Australian Open women's doubles title over Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur.

BELGIAN pair Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne continued their march into the last 16 but there will be no fairytale final for former Wimbledon champion Martina Hingis.

FRUSTRATED by the French clay and a Chinese teenager, Lindsay Davenport glared at her racket, clenched her teeth and mounted a comeback.

US Open Championship, Flushing Meadows, New York

France's Mary Pierce has beaten Venus Williams in the women's singles event in Athens.

These are the results from today's tennis events at the Athens Olympics:

Champion Serena Williams fretted through 65 minutes of uncertainty before starting a successful defence of her Wimbledon title against China’s Jie Zheng on Centre Court.

Wimbledon champion Serena Williams will no doubt be looking for the support of big sister Venus when she steps out to start her title defence on Centre Court this afternoon.