Victoria Azarenka had some sympathy for Serena Williams after banishing memories of her own first-round struggles at the French Open by breezing into round three.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer enjoyed straightforward victories at the ATP & WTA BNP Paribas Open on Sunday but Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova suffered a surprise early exit in Indian Wells.

Two-time defending champion Kim Clijsters has withdrawn from the US Open after failing to recover from a stomach muscle injury.

Kim Clijsters blamed a loss of confidence for her shock second-round defeat by Arantxa Rus at the French Open today.

Elena Dementieva’s defence of her Rogers Cup title was ended in the third round by China’s Zheng Jie.

Serena Williams has denied the defence of her Australian Open title will be put at risk by playing in the doubles final today.

ANDY MURRAY believes he is in the form of his life after he booked his place in the final of the Australian Open with a four-set win over Marin Cilic.

Defending champion Serena Williams booked her place in the Australian Open final after beating China's Li Na in two tie-break sets today.

Justine Henin is one step away from completing a fairytale return from retirement after she won through to the Australian Open final with a straight-sets win over Zheng Jie today.

Li Na staged a remarkable comeback to dump Venus Williams out of the Australian Open with a 2-6 7-6 (7/4) 7-5 win in their quarter-final on Rod Laver Arena today.

Justine Henin moved one step closer to another remarkable Belgian return when she advanced to the semi-finals of the Australian Open today.

Former world number one Maria Sharapova admits she faces a tough task of returning to the top of the women’s game.

World-ranked one and two Dinara Safina and Serena Williams have both advanced to the second round of the China Open.

Top seed Dinara Safina was dumped out of the WTA LA Women’s Tennis Championships by Zheng Jie last night.

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.

SERENA WILLIAMS has warned her Wimbledon rivals there is more to come after demolishing Jarmila Groth on Court One yesterday.

Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli was the only seed to fall today as the first round of the Madrid Open got under way.

Dinara Safina and Ana Ivanovic crashed out of the Sony Ericsson Open in the third round today, while sisters Venus and Serena Williams advanced.

World number one Jelena Jankovic is “hoping for the best” after pulling out of her only warm-up event before the Australian Open with flu.

ROGER FEDERER booked his place in the third round of the US Open last night after easing to a straight-sets victory over Brazilian qualifier Thiago Alves.

Rafael Nadal will celebrate his rise to the top of the world on Monday as the new Olympic champion after a straight sets victory over Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in Beijing today.

The Williams sisters set up a Wimbledon final clash on Saturday with Venus admitting they rely on each other’s advice to constantly improve their respective games.

SERENA WILLIAMS will face sister Venus for the third time in a Wimbledon final tomorrow after bringing Zheng Jie’s incredible run to an end with a 6-2 7-6 (7-5) win.

Serena Williams reached her fourth Wimbledon final and her third against her sister Venus after wrestling aside the plucky challenge of China’s Zheng Jie 6-2 7-6 (7/5) on Centre Court today.

Number five seed Elena Dementieva, of Russia, loses women’s singles semi-final against Venus Williams of the United States, 6-1 7-6 (7/3).

Serena Williams has refused to concede sister and defending champion Venus is favourite for the Wimbledon title.

IT HAS been a year of unprecedented shocks at Wimbledon, but a women’s final without either of the Williams sisters would arguably top the lot.

VENUS WILLIAMS stayed on course for her fifth Wimbledon title eight years after her first – and declared she is still the same girl who jumped for joy on Centre Court back in 2000.

Martina Hingis insists her third-round defeat at Wimbledon is only a temporary setback in her comeback to competitive tennis.

TITLE favourite Guillermo Coria reached the quarter-finals of the French Open on Sunday without breaking sweat while British comeback king Tim Henman had to battle down to the wire to make the last eight for the first time.

Third seed Amelie Mauresmo of France survived an early scare before earning her qualification to the fourth round of the French Open with a straight-sets win over Spain’s Arantxa Parra Santonja.