Serena Williams

Serena wins 1st match in Auckland

The 35-year-old had not played a competitive match since she lost to Karolina Pliskova in the semi-finals of the U.S. Open last September, withdrawing from all tennis to deal with a persistent shoulder injury.

The 22-time grand slam winner, who had participated in a charity doubles match with sister Venus against All Blacks siblings Julian and Ardie Savea before the tournament started, was appearing for the first time in Auckland and persistent rain on Monday postponed her first round match until Tuesday.

Serena to start action on day two in Auckland

Just two main draw singles matches were completed on the first day, with a number of qualifying also still to be completed.

22-time grand slam winner Williams will play Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier first up before Naomi Osaka resumes her match with Annika Beck of Germany with the Japanese player a set up.

The New Zealand number one Marina Erakovic will then play seventh seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, before third seed Caroline Wozniacki opens her campaign against Nicolle Gibbs of the United States.

Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar join Beyonce onstage at end of her Formation world tour

Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman and Frank Ocean were among 80,000 people in the crowd at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium.

Beyonce sang tracks from her six solo albums, including her latest effort, Lemonade.

Jay Z joined his wife for Drunk In Love, making his first appearance on the tour, which started in April.

Kendrick Lamar's cameo included a dance-off with Beyonce in a pool of water during Freedom.

Meanwhile Serena Williams - who appears in the music video for Sorry - brought the clip to life by twerking while Beyonce sang the song.

Serena Williams vows: 'I won't be silent' on police violence

The US tennis star posted that she found herself feeling wary of law enforcement during a recent journey with her teenage nephew.

Williams said that when they drove by a patrol car she remembered a woman whose boyfriend was fatally shot by police.

She is the latest athlete to speak out about friction between law enforcement and the black community in the US.

In Tuesday's Facebook post, Williams, 35, wrote that she had asked her 18-year-old nephew to drive her somewhere so she could work during the journey.

Serena Williams to star in NZ

The former world number one was announced as a competitor by ASB Classic officials to compete in next year's tournament.

Williams, currently ranked at number two in the world, will be the highest ranked player ever to compete at the Auckland tournament which has attracted stars such as Venus Williams, Carolina Wozniacki and Rafael Nadal in the past.

ASB Classic organisers said they believed the American player's participation would make this the biggest event in the tournament's history.

Serena Williams vows: 'I won't be silent' on police violence

The US tennis star posted that she found herself feeling wary of law enforcement during a recent journey with her teenage nephew.

Williams said that when they drove by a patrol car she remembered a woman whose boyfriend was fatally shot by police.

She is the latest athlete to speak out about friction between law enforcement and the black community in the US.

In Tuesday's Facebook post, Williams, 35, wrote that she had asked her 18-year-old nephew to drive her somewhere so she could work during the journey.

Williams, Biles confidential information hacked

 WADA identified the group of hackers as Tsar Team (APT28), also known as Fancy Bear.

The www.fancybear.net website said it had information about a number of U.S. athletes, including tennis sisters Serena and Venus Williams as well as multiple gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles.

"WADA condemns these ongoing cyber-attacks that are being carried out in an attempt to undermine WADA and the global anti-doping system," said director general Olivier Niggli in a statement that did not name any athletes.

Serena reveals 'serious' knee injury

The American's 186-week reign as world number one is over after the 6-2 7-6 (7-5) loss to Czech Pliskova at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday.

Williams, whose bid for a 23rd grand slam also came to an end, said a knee injury had been impacting her from the opening rounds of the tournament.

"I have been having some serious left knee problems," she said.

"I wasn't tired. Fatigue had absolutely nothing to do with it. If I was tired I should definitely get into a new career."

Williams added: "I wasn't able to move the way I wanted to move.

US Open 2016: Serena Williams suffers shock loss to Karolina Pliskova

Pliskova, 24, won 6-2 7-6 (7-5) to set up a first Grand Slam final against Angelique Kerber or Carolina Wozniacki.

Williams' defeat guarantees that Kerber will overtake the 34-year-old at the top of the rankings after the US Open.

It will end a 186-week run as number one for Williams, which ties Steffi Graf's WTA record.

Williams had also been hoping to pass Graf's Open-era record of 23 major singles titles in New York, but for the second year running she fell at the semi-final stage.

Photo: Getty Images

     

Federer hails Serena longevity

 Williams, who moved level with Steffi Graff on 22 grand slam titles with victory at Wimbledon in July, has to reach the final at Flushing Meadows to have a chance of keeping the moniker as the best player in women's tennis with Angelique Kerber in pole position to take over.

The 34-year-old has been at number one since February 2013 and 17-time grand slam champion Federer, who remains at fourth in the ATP rankings at the age of 35 but announced in July he would miss the rest of the year because of a knee injury, has nothing but admiration for the American.