Maria Sharapova will face the new hero of American tennis for the second year running at the US Open after booking her place in the third round at Flushing Meadows.

Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva safely moved into the third round of the US Open today with victory over Germany’s Sabine Lisicki.

Shocks were conspicuous by their absence on the opening day of the US Open, with Venus Williams and defending champion Kim Clijsters among the seeds enjoying a comfortable passage into the second round 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.

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.

Venus Williams reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the 11th time this afternoon but she did not have things all her own way against Australian Jarmila Groth.

Former world number one Dinara Safina has withdrawn from Wimbledon with a back injury.

Venus Williams has made herself unavailable for the USA's Fed Cup semi-final against Russia in Alabama this weekend because of injury.

Top seed Andy Roddick ended his losing streak against fellow American James Blake at the ATP Morgan Keegan Championships but third seed Radek Stepanek and fourth seed Tommy Haas crashed out in Memphis on Wednesday.

If the sporting scriptwriters have a fairytale in mind for next summer then surely there can only be one winner at SW19 on July 3.

Flavia Pennetta sealed Fed Cup victory for Italy with a straight-sets win over US teenager Melanie Oudin in Reggio Calabria.

Caroline Wozniacki brought fellow teenager Melanie Oudin's giant-killing run at the US Open to an end under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium last night.

American teenager Melanie Oudin continued her giant-killing run at the US Open when she knocked out a third Russian seed in succession Nadia Petrova at Flushing Meadows.

ROGER FEDERER moved closer to a sixth successive US Open crown after stifling Spanish 14th seed Tommy Robredo 7-5 6-2 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals last night.

World number one Dinara Safina joined former champion Maria Sharapova as a third round casualty on a day of shocks at the US Open.

Andy Roddick became the first big-name seed to crash out of the US Open men’s singles as he lost a fifth-set tie-break to fellow American John Isner.

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

RUSSIA’S Elena Dementieva and Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic became the first big name casualties at the US Open.

Women’s fourth seed Elena Dementieva became the first big-name casualty of the 2009 US Open when American teenager Melanie Oudin claimed another grand slam scalp today.

Kim Clijsters made a winning return to the professional circuit today with a 6-4 6-3 success against Marion Bartoli of France at the Women's Open in Cincinnati.

Daniela Hantuchova battled from a set down to sink Melanie Oudin in the first round of the WTA LA Women’s Tennis Championships in Los Angeles yesterday.

The Williams sisters remain on course for another meeting after booking their places in the quarter-finals of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.

Teenage rising star Melanie Oudin stunned Jelena Jankovic with a brilliant fightback to knock the sixth seed out of Wimbledon.

DEFENDING champion Venus Williams launched her bid for Wimbledon singles title number six with a 6-3 6-2 win over Stefanie Voegele yesterday.

German teenager Sabine Lisicki shocked second seed Venus Williams at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston by beating the American 6-4 7-6 (7/5) to advance to the quarter-finals.

Second seed Venus Williams survived a second-set scare to edge past Sania Mirza in the second round of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston.