Top seed Caroline Wozniacki laid down a marker with a 6-2 6-0 thrashing of Arantxa Rus in the second round of the US Open on Thursday night.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova made an uncertain start to the defence of her Monterrey Open title after being pushed all the way in her first-round encounter with Eleni Daniilidou.

Venus Williams narrowly avoided a second-round exit at the Australian Open today after battling back to overcome a leg injury and Czech opponent Sandra Zahlavova.

A rain dance from Novak Djokovic had the desired effect as his US Open final with Rafael Nadal was delayed until today.

The US Open final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic has been delayed until tomorrow due to persistent rain at Flushing Meadows.

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.

Former world number one Dinara Safina claimed just a third win in her past 11 matches after beating first-round opponent Andrea Petkovic at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.

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.

SERENA WILLIAMS is determined not to enjoy her incredible tennis success too much – so she can have more of it.

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.

Alicia Molik set up a second-round meeting with Kim Clijsters by beating Ekaterina Makarova in the first round of the Brisbane International today.

Dinara Safina looks set to lose her world number one ranking after a shock defeat by wild card Shuai Zhang in the second round of the China Open today.

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.

Maria Sharapova breezed through to the second round of the WTA LA Women’s Tennis Championships in Los Angeles with a straight-sets victory over Jarmila Groth.

Top seed Maria Sharapova admitted she only had herself to blame as she came close to becoming the first high-profile casualty in this year’s French Open.

Svetlana Kuznetsova proved that she is far from a false number two seed at the Australian Open, dismissing France’s Nathalie Dechy in straight sets today – and sounding a warning to her rivals.

FORMER Wimbledon champion Venus Williams came back from the dead to deny the “Graveyard of Champions” another scalp.

RAFAEL NADAL was one point away from losing the first set before rallying to take command of his first-round match with American Robert Kendrick to move into the second round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Serena Williams and “mean old lady” Lindsay Davenport made their presence felt as they both impressed to go through to the third round of the US Open.

LINDSAY Davenport coasted through to the third round of the US Open with a 6-0 6-0 rout of Croatian Jelena Kostanic yesterday.

Lindsay Davenport coasted through to the third round of the US Open with a 6-0 6-0 rout of Croatian Jelena Kostanic.

Second seed Justine Henin-Hardenne shrugged off a 90-minute rain delay to open her US Open campaign with a straight-sets win.

FIVE-TIME Grand Slam winner Justine Henin-Hardenne’s march towards reclaiming her US Open title began in earnest on Monday as she cruised past Maria Elena Camerin 6-2, 6-1 in an opening round match yesterday.