Former world number one and two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep announced her retirement from professional tennis on Tuesday after losing in the first round at her home event in Cluj.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova will return to action this month after a 15-month maternity break, with the Czech set to play in three tournaments in the United States.
"He has lost only four or five matches in the past year, so it's crazy. I know people say who's better out of us. They say Jannik is better or some say me. It's all discussion."
World number one Jannik Sinner will not defend his ATP 500 title in Rotterdam as the Italian's "body needs time to rest" after winning the Australian Open, tournament organisers announced Monday.
Double Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner set his sights on mastering clay and grass courts to make himself a complete player after the Italian claimed his third hardcourt Grand Slam title on Sunday.
The 23-year-old came through a tense battle between the world's top two players 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena, raising his arms in the air and looking to the sky in celebration.
The victory earned the Italian world number one his third Grand Slam crown.
The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, ends on Sunday when defending champion Jannik Sinner faces Alexander Zverev for the men's title. AFP looks back on five memorable storylines from the past two weeks in Melbourne:
The 20-year-old's exit means Serena Williams remains the last woman to successfully defend the US Open title back in 2014.
Four-time French Open champion Swiatek was equally dominant as Sinner as the top-seeded Pole eased into the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Alexei Popyrin insisted that his shock US Open triumph over defending champion Novak Djokovic was "not unbelievable" and that winning his maiden Masters title in Montreal on the eve of the tournament "was way bigger".
Novak Djokovic slumped to his earliest exit at the US Open in 18 years on Friday as a four-set, third round defeat to Alexei Popyrin sparked more questions over his long term future in the sport.
Coco Gauff survived late-match drama to keep her US Open title defence alive with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Elina Svitolina on Friday.
Alcaraz lost 6-1, 7-5, 6-4, ending his bid to become only the third man in the modern era to win the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same season.
Alcaraz, the 2022 champion, is seeded to meet Sinner in the semi-finals.
Djokovic, a four-time champion at the tournament and seeking a record 25th Grand Slam title, was leading 6-4, 6-4, 2-0 when Djere called it quits.
In the middle of the afternoon at Flushing Meadows, the searing heat reached 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit).
Ruse, ranked 122nd in the world, pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament so far with her win over the eighth-ranked Krejcikova.
