Serena Williams, an American tennis star known for her confident athleticism, aggressive style and thundering strokes from the baseline, has been called the player of her generation, surpassing her sister Venus to become the dominant Williams. In July 2010 Williams defeated Vera Zvonareva in straight sets to win her fourth Wimbledon singles title and 13th Grand Slam singles title. But Williams then missed the next 11 months of competition after two operations to repair a torn tendon in her right foot and then hospitalization to recover from blood clots in both lungs and a hematoma that required emergency treatment.
By Kylie MacLellan
LONDON (Reuters) - Twenty-four years after it was reintroduced to the Games, Olympic tennis may well have peaked.
By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) - Destinee Hooker could have competed at the London Olympics in high jump or even basketball. Luckily for her U.S. team mates, the 24-year-old chose volleyball.
By Avril Ormsby
LONDON (Reuters) - Gabby Douglas said she just wanted to go home to the United States to see her family and dogs, go to the beach and do a bit of shopping but acknowledged her life would not be the same after she struck gymnastics gold at London 2012.
MONTREAL (Reuters) - Victoria Azarenka will play her first match since the London Olympics on Thursday at the Montreal Cup with only one threat to her status as the world's top female player left in the draw.
Both Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska came to Canada with a chance at uprooting Belarusian Azarenka, who will play Austrian Tamira Paszek in her opening match, from her perch atop the world rankings.
(Reuters) - World number two Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Montreal Cup because of a bad stomach virus that has been bothering the Olympic silver medallist since the London Games, Tennis Canada said on Wednesday.
The third-seeded Russian, who was demolished 6-0 6-1 by Serena Williams in the gold medal match of the London Olympics on Saturday, is set to return home on Wednesday.
By Mike Collett-White and Kevin Liffey
LONDON (Reuters) - Jamaican Usain Bolt blitzed to victory in a spectacular 100 metres sprint on Sunday, clocking the second fastest time ever amid deafening roars from 80,000 people packed into London's Olympic stadium.
By Steve Keating
LONDON (Reuters) - Her Olympic moment over, American weightlifter Sarah Robles prepared to return to the real world on Sunday more hopeful of avoiding a life of food banks, pity and prayers.
By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) - For Britain's Andy Murray every cloud has a golden lining.
By Kevin Liffey
LONDON (Reuters) - Three athletics golds crowned host nation Britain's best Olympic day for over a century after the greatest swimmer of all time bowed out on a high by winning Saturday's last pool race of the Games.
By Kylie MacLellan
LONDON (Reuters) - American Serena Williams won Olympic tennis singles gold on Saturday, becoming the first player to win all four grand slams and an Olympic title in singles and doubles, with her U.S. team mates Bob and Mike Bryan later taking the men's doubles gold.
By Kylie MacLellan
LONDON (Reuters) - America's Bob and Mike Bryan surpassed their Beijing doubles bronze medal by taking home the Olympic gold in London on Saturday, hailing it the greatest win of their long and successful partnership.
By Kylie MacLellan
LONDON (Reuters) - Serena Williams demolished Russia's Maria Sharapova 6-0 6-1 to grab Olympic tennis singles gold on Saturday, becoming the first player in the sport to win all four grand slams and an Olympic title in both singles and doubles.
LONDON (Reuters) - America's Bob and Mike Bryan added a gold medal to their trophy haul on Saturday with a 6-4 7-6 win over France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Michael Llodra in the Olympic tennis men's doubles final.
The Bryan twins, who have won 11 grand slam titles together and took home the men's doubles bronze in Beijing, were handed the victory in a second set tiebreak when Llodra ploughed the ball into the net.
LONDON (Reuters) - Wimbledon is well-known for its unpredictable weather, with rain interrupting play an all-too regular fixture at the annual grand slam tennis tournament.
But the club, which is hosting Olympic tennis, came unstuck on Saturday because of wind as a sharp gust whipped the U.S. flag off its rail mid-women's singles victory ceremony to a gasp from the 15,000 capacity Centre Court crowd.
LONDON (Reuters) - Serena Williams won her first Olympic tennis women's singles gold on Saturday with a 6-0 6-1 demolition of Russia's Maria Sharapova on Wimbledon's Centre Court.
The unstoppable American, who dropped just 16 games in her five singles matches en route to the final, has now completed the "golden slam" - winning all four majors as well as an Olympic singles gold.
By Pritha Sarkar
LONDON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama wants an audience with her, Oprah Winfrey is "flowing happy tears" for her and spookily her surname is an anagram of 'USA gold' - no wonder Americans cannot get enough of Gabby Douglas.
By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) - Switzerland's Roger Federer had to break yet another record to keep his Olympic dream alive and Andy Murray surfed a wave of British euphoria at Wimbledon on Friday to set up a mouthwatering showdown for a gold medal.
By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) - American Serena Williams was made to wait before speeding towards a first Olympic women's singles gold medal with a 6-1 6-2 thrashing of Victoria Azarenka on Friday after Maria Sharapova won an all-Russian clash against Maria Kirilenko.