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.

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.

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.

Tennis

The rapidly approaching Rugby World Cup is causing media outlets everywhere to break out in supplements and previews — I can only hope you made the effort to collect last Friday’s newspaper, which had the pick of those supplements accompanying it.

Serena Williams suffered one of the greatest shocks in tennis history as unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci ended the American’s hopes of a calendar grand slam with a stunning victory in the US Open semi-finals.

Serena Williams will look to take another step on the road to a calendar grand slam tonight when she faces Roberta Vinci in the US Open semi-finals tonight.

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will meet in the semi-finals at the China Open - but second seed Rafael Nadal was a shock quarter-final casualty.

Serena Williams has withdrawn from the China Open with a knee injury.

Sixth seed Roberta Vinci crashed out in the first round of the Guangzhou Open on Monday after losing in straight sets to Lin Zhu.

Rafael Nadal’s bid to regain the world number one ranking got off to a fine start with a routine 6-2 6-4 win over Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo in the first round of the China Open in Beijing.

Second seed Victoria Azarenka kept her title hopes alive at the US Open with another battling performance to defeat Ana Ivanovic and reach the quarter-finals.

Petra Kvitova went the distance again as she moved into the second round of the US Open with victory over Japan’s Misaki Doi on Arthur Ashe.

Novak Djokovic is learning to expect the unexpected at Wimbledon but is making sure he keeps his own game under control.

Serena Williams is expecting a tough battle against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals of the French Open – and history indicates she will be right.

Second seed Agnieszka Radwanska swatted aside Russia’s Nina Bratchikova to reach the second round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows today.

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray won their opening matches at the Western & Southern Open in straight sets.

Former world number one Ana Ivanovic was thrashed 6-0 6-0 by Italian Roberta Vinci in the second round of the WTA Rogers Cup in Montreal on Thursday.

Austrian Tamira Paszek was the first woman to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon today as she claimed an impressive win over Roberta Vinci.

Former finalist Marion Bartoli was the most prominent woman to lose on day four at Wimbledon as Mirjana Lucic reached the third round for the first time since 1999.

Roger Federer lost in straight sets to Novak Djokovic in the French Open semi-finals yesterday and then declared Rafael Nadal the “overwhelming favourite” for tomorrow’s showpiece.

Top seed and defending champion Juan Martin Del Potro marched into the quarter-finals of the Estoril Open in Portugal today with a 6-1 6-0, 62-minute demolition of home hope Rui Machado.

Serena Williams was happy with her start to the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Miami, as she dropped just five games to Chinese opponent Zhang Shuai.

Former world number one Roger Federer overcame a scare to beat Canada's Milos Raonic 6/7 (4/7) 6-2 6-4 in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells today.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic moved through to the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells last night with a 6-2 6-3 win over South African Kevin Anderson.

Samantha Stosur’s Australian Open preparations hit another hurdle today as the US Open champion was beaten in straight sets by Francesca Schiavone in the first round of the Sydney International.

Serena Williams felt her third-round victory over fourth seed Victoria Azarenka at the US Open yesterday was worthy of a semi-final.

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

Serena Williams will resume her title defence in the more grand surroundings of Court One today after the All England Club acquiesced to the champion’s plea to move away from the outer reaches of Wimbledon.

Marcos Baghdatis was unable to mark his 26th birthday with a place in the final of the UNICEF Open after losing to Ivan Dodig.

Defending women’s champion Francesca Schiavone wasted little time in reaching round two of this year’s French Open with a thumping 6-2 6-0 victory over American teenager Melanie Oudin.

A potentially memorable final showdown between clay court king Rafael Nadal and in-form world number two Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open moved a step closer last night as both players progressed through to the quarter-finals without any problems.

Vera Zvonareva and Svetlana Kuznetsova today moved Russia to the brink of the Fed Cup final with victories in their semi-final singles rubbers against two-time defending champions Italy in Moscow.

Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm upset 12th seed Maria Sharapova in three sets in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo today.

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.

Former world number one Ana Ivanovic fought from a set down to dump ninth seed Victoria Azarenka out of the Cincinnati Open on Monday night.

Venus Williams reached the third round of the French Open for the ninth successive year today, but found herself answering more questions about her outfit than her performance.

Kim Clijsters showed no mercy to a struggling Venus Williams as she won the women’s final of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami today.

Venus Williams kept the defence of her Abierto Mexicano Telcel tournament title on track with a straight-sets win over Kaia Kanepi.

Second seed Dinara Safina took less than an hour to end British number one Elena Baltacha's run at the Australian Open.

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

Justine Henin continued her successful WTA Tour comeback with a straight-sets win against Sesil Karatantcheva at the Brisbane International today.