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.

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

Nuclear experts have insisted there is no safety threat after a partial roof collapse at the wrecked Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Photographers crowded round today as the curtain was pulled back to present what is claimed to be an early version of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

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.

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.

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

Italian scientists are seeking to exhume the body of Leonardo da Vinci to conduct carbon and DNA testing.

A BLOODY footprint found at the house where a British student was killed in Italy was wrongly attributed to one of the defendants in the case, a forensic expert testified at the murder trial yesterday.

A bloody footprint found where British student Meredith Kercher was killed in Italy did not belong to an Italian accused of murdering her, a forensic expert claimed today.

Richard Collins on the quintessential Renaissance man

A RUTHLESS Roger Federer began his US. Open defence with a 61-minute, 6-1 6-1 6-1 thrashing of Ivo Minar.

Art experts and conservative clerics are holding an unusual “trial” in the hometown of Leonardo da Vinci: concerned about the legions of fans of the The Da Vinci Code who take claims in the book as gospel truth, the mock tribunal aims to sort out fact from fiction.

Art experts and conservative clerics were putting the blockbuster novel The Da Vinci Code on trial in the art master’s home town tonight.

Some Roman Catholic religious orders have been sheltering priests in Rome despite claims that the men sexually abused children, it was reported today.