Rafael Nadal was stepping up preparation for Wimbledon by training on Mallorca's best grass courts on Thursday, an apparently positive sign that he intends to play in London.

The Australian Open and French Open champion said after his Roland Garros triumph at the start of June that he would only appear at Wimbledon if he could compete without needing anaesthetic injections in a troublesome foot.

The 36-year-old said he was given a couple of injections before every match and announced he would undergo radio frequency injections in a bid to feature at the third grand slam of the year.

Nadal is halfway towards a potential sweep of the four majors, defying the foot trouble by producing results that few saw coming. Rod Laver in 1969 was the last man to win all four singles majors in a calendar year.

Spaniard Nadal was pictured by organisers of the Mallorca Championships on Thursday, during a practice session on one of the tournament's plush courts.

Nadal, who hails from the island, is reluctant to undergo major surgery to prolong his career.

Wimbledon starts on June 27, and it is a tournament that Nadal has won twice, in 2008 and 2010.

He leads the all-time list of men's grand slam singles title winners, with 22 to his name now, two more than Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have managed.

That is still one fewer than Serena Williams has managed during her stellar career, and the 40-year-old American rolled in to London on Thursday for another tilt at Wimbledon.

Due to injury, Williams has not competed on the WTA Tour since last year's championships at the All England Club.

She has received a wildcard into Wimbledon, where she has been a champion seven times, most recently in 2016.

Williams posted a video on Instagram of her arriving in London with daughter Olympia.

She intends to compete in doubles at Eastbourne, partnering Ons Jabeur, in the week leading up to Wimbledon.

Serena Williams' return to Wimbledon represents a "great example" to other players, according to Nick Kyrgios, who said tennis fans should not take her or other fellow greats Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, for granted.

Comparing the quartet to four-time NBA MVP LeBron James, Kyrgios says sports fans should enjoy the legends' "amazing" exploits while they still can.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that Williams – who has not played competitively since losing to Aliaksandra Sasnovich at Wimbledon last year – has been handed a singles wildcard to compete at the year's tournament, which begins later this month. 

Williams, now aged 40 and ranked 1,208th in the world, has won seven singles titles at Wimbledon, the last of which came in 2016, and 23 grand slams in total.

A spirited fightback from Nick Kyrgios saw the Australian beat second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Halle Open on Wednesday.

Kyrgios suffered a disappointing semi-final defeat to Andy Murray in Stuttgart last week, but looked greatly improved against Tsitsipas as he recovered from a set down to win 5-7 6-2 6-4.

It was the second serve of both men where Kyrgios shone, winning 76 per cent (28 of 37) of points on his second serve, and 58 per cent (23 of 40) on his opponent's.

"Stef is one of the best players in the world at the moment and he's going to have some amazing results and I'm sure many, many grand slams," Kyrgios said following his win.

"I don't know if I can say the same for me, but I'm happy to still be able to produce this level with the tournaments I play. It is a testament to how hard I do work when I'm not playing."

He will face Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter-finals after the Spanish sixth seed beat Sebastian Korda 6-4 0-6 6-3.

Elsewhere, Hubert Hurkacz will face Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last eight after defeating Ugo Humbert 7-6 (7-5) 6-3, while the Canadian also won in straight sets against Mackenzie McDonald 7-6 (9-7) 6-1.

The one remaining first round match saw number one seed Daniil Medvedev beat David Goffin 6-3 6-2 to set up a second round clash with Ilya Ivashka.

At the Queen's Club Championships, sixth seed Denis Shapovalov was eliminated by Tommy Paul 6-4 2-6 6-4, with the American now scheduled to face Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round.

It means that six of the eight seeds in west London were knocked out in the first round, with Matteo Berrettini and Marin Cilic the only remaining seeds. The latter sealed his place in the quarter-finals on Wednesday with a 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 win over Alexander Bublik.

Cilic will play Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori in the last eight after he beat home favourite Jack Draper 6-2 7-6 (7-2).

The best contest of the day came between Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Alex de Minaur, with the former coming from behind to win 4-6 6-4 7-5 to set up a quarter-final with Botic van de Zandschulp, who beat Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.

Simona Halep eased into the last eight of the Birmingham Classic with a straight-sets win over Harriet Dart.

Home hope Dart was looking for a second successive quarter-final, having beaten Donna Vekic and Camila Giorgi in Nottingham last week en route to a place in the last eight.

However, Halep illustrated the gulf in class between the two in her last-16 clash with Dart, surging to a 6-3 6-2 victory as she prepares to try to regain the Wimbledon title she won in 2019.

The second seed will next face another Briton, Katie Boulter, who beat Caroline Garcia in straight sets. Halep's Romanian compatriot Sorana Cirstea overcame Aleksandra Krunic, while there were also wins for Giorgi, Zhang Shuai and Vekic.

At the German Open, fourth seed Karolina Pliskova needed two hours and 11 minutes to see off former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.

The Czech came through a marathon third set that went to a tie-break, Pliskova having been a break down at 3-1 in the third, prevailing 6-4 2-6 7-6 (9-7).

Pliskova broke Andreescu to level the decider at 5-5 and then saved two break points in her subsequent service game before converting her third match point in the tie-break.

It marked Pliskova's first complete win over Andreescu, her only previous success coming via retirement at the 2019 WTA Finals.

"Of course Bianca is a super-tough opponent, she can really give you anything," Pliskova said after the match. "Slices, she can play fast, she can serve really well, she can come to the net.

"So I think there was a little bit of everything in this match. I'm super proud that I was able to turn the match around, because I was losing in the third set. I thought she was a little bit better in the second and third sets, but I stayed in there and I fought and I got my chances in the end."

French Open runner-up Coco Gauff had an easier time of things in her opening match in Berlin, defeating Ann Li 6-2 7-6 (7-2).

Maria Sakkari got the better of Daria Saville 6-1 7-5, Daria Kasatkina came back from a set down to knock out Ekaterina Alexandrova 5-7 6-1 6-1 and Aliaksandra Sasnovich saw off Andrea Petkovic 6-4 6-4.

Berlin Open top seeds Ons Jabeur and Maria Sakkari progressed with relative ease from their first-round matches, but Aryna Sabalenka and Garbine Muguruza were not so fortunate.

World number four Jabeur, who will team up with Serena Williams at the Eastbourne International, suffered a shock first-round exit at the French Open, but the Tunisian showed no signs of that defeat having affected her in her first grass-court appearance of the season.

Top seed Jabeur required just 73 minutes to overcome Karolina Muchova 6-3 6-3 on Tuesday, with American qualifier Alycia Parks next up after she defeated Qinwen Zheng in straight sets.

Second seed Sakkari, meanwhile, had a similarly comfortable start to her campaign, beating Leolia Jeanjean 6-3 6-2.

Meanwhile, reigning champion Liudmila Samsonova took her place in round two with a 7-5 6-1 victory over Tamara Zidansek.

Samsonova beat Belinda Bencic to claim the title in 2021, and the pair will meet again the quarter-finals should they win respective second-round ties against Veronika Kudermetova and Anna Kalinskaya.

But Kudermetova goes into her clash with Samsonova on a high, having eliminated third seed Sabalenka in a 2-6 7-5 6-4 comeback victory.

WTA Finals champion Muguruza will not be in round two after the Spaniard fell foul of Germany's Andrea Petkovic, who prevailed 7-6 (10-8) 6-4.

"I really do believe that in these really close matches, the simple and little shift of energy can make the difference," Petkovic said.

"If you have the crowd on your side, and they are willing you to the win somehow, I think that can really make a difference."

At the Birmingham Classic, top seed Jelena Ostapenko booked a second-round meeting with Dayana Yastremska.

While Yastremska beat Magda Linette in straight sets, Ostapenko was made to work, with the Latvian requiring two hours to overcome Canada's Rebecca Marino 6-2 5-7 6-3.

Fourth seed Elise Mertens was ditched out by Caty McNally, while former world number two and two-time major champion Petra Kvitova lost to Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Camila Giorgi, the third seed, leads Tereza Martincova after claiming a close first set 9-7 in the tie-break before the match was suspended.

Top seed Casper Ruud suffered a shock first-round exit at the Queen's Club Championships, going down in straight sets to British ATP Tour debutant Ryan Peniston in west London.

The French Open runner-up struggled to get going as he fell to a 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-2) defeat to the world number 180, who was backed by a boisterous home crowd throughout.

Ruud struggled from the off as Peniston forced four break points in the Norwegian's first service game, and his miserable outing was rounded off when his opponent raced into a 5-1 lead before serving out a second-set tie-break.

After claiming the scalp of the world number five, Peniston told the BBC: "I can't really believe it. It feels like a dream. It doesn't feel real.

"I think I've been playing well. Casper is an unreal player and he did so well at the French Open, so I knew it was a tough ask. Four or five years ago I was sitting in the crowd just watching so to be here now is just unreal."

Ruud was not the only big name to fall at the first hurdle, with fifth seed Diego Schwartzman going down 6-1 6-4 against big-serving Sam Querrey to become the fourth of the top five seeds to fail to reach the round of 16.

Second seed and defending champion Matteo Berrettini is the exception after faring much better against another home favourite, cruising past Dan Evans 6-3 6-3, while Stan Wawrinka downed Francis Tiafoe 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-5), and Denis Shapovalov's clash with Tommy Paul was suspended by darkness at one set apiece. 

Elsewhere, world number six Stefanos Tsitsipas progressed through his opening match at the Halle Open, beating Benjamin Bonzi 7-6 (7-1) 1-6 6-3 to set up an enticing last-16 clash with Nick Kyrgios, who bested Daniel Altmaier 6-3 7-5.

Fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime also progressed after being taken to three sets, beating Marcos Giron 6-3 5-7 6-3.

Meanwhile, defending champion Ugo Humbert will face a tough round-of-16 match against fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz after the Pole overcame Maxime Cressy 6-4 4-6 6-4. 

The US Open has announced players from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to compete in this year’s tournament despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The decision means world number one Daniil Medvedev can defend his title.

While the United States Tennis Association is allowing Russian and Belarusians to enter the tournament, the athletes must play under a neutral flag. The French Open, which concluded on June 5, allowed Russian and Belarusians to compete under the same conditions.

"Alongside the other grand slams, the ITF, the ATP and the WTA, the USTA, which owns and operates the US Open, has previously condemned, and continues to condemn, the unprovoked and unjust invasion of Ukraine by Russia," the USTA said in a statement.

"The USTA, standing with these other tennis entities, supported the banning of the Russian and Belarusian Tennis Federations from the ITF, and therefore all international team competitions, and the directive for players from those countries to play under a neutral flag when competing outside of international team competitions."

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February, several organisations have banned Russian athletes from participating. Wimbledon, which starts on June 27, announced back in April that Russian and Belarusians would be barred from competing.

"We recognise that each organisation has had to deal with unique circumstances that affect their decisions," the USTA's statement read. "Based on our own circumstances, the USTA will allow all eligible players, regardless of nationality, to compete at the 2022 US Open."

The US Open begins on August 29 in New York.

Serena Williams has been handed a Wimbledon singles wild card after confirming her return from injury after a year out.

The 40-year-old has not played competitively since losing to Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the first round of last year's tournament at SW19 and is now ranked at 1,208 in the world.

Williams hinted at her imminent comeback in a social media post on Tuesday, however, and it has now been confirmed she will take part in the third grand slam of the year.

Twenty-three time major winner Williams will also compete in the upcoming grass-court event at Eastbourne after receiving a wild card in the doubles draw alongside Ons Jabeur.

That will act as preparation for Wimbledon, a competition she has won seven times, the most recent of those triumphs coming in 2016.

Williams is one major title shy of matching Margaret Court's long-standing record of 24, which has been the case since her most recent triumph at the 2017 Australian Open.

She missed last year's US Open on home soil, as well as this year's Australian Open and French Open.

In her earlier Instagram message, Williams posted an image of her trainers on grass and captioned it: "SW and SW19. It's a date. 2022, see you there."

American Williams joins 10 British players on the initial batch of wild cards for the Wimbledon singles, while three-time grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka will also take part.

Serena's sister Venus, a five-time singles winner at Wimbledon, was not named on the initial batch of wild cards but two spots remain up for grabs.

The tournament in London gets under way on June 27.

Serena Williams has appeared to confirm her intention to take part in this month's Wimbledon after a year out injured.

The 40-year-old has not played competitively since losing to Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the first round of last year's tournament at SW19 and is now ranked at 1,208 in the world.

Twenty-three time major winner Williams' future was called into question in April when long-time coach Patrick Mouratoglou announced he was working with Simona Halep.

However, she hinted around the same time that returning to action at Wimbledon was a possibility, and that news was all but confirmed on social media on Tuesday.

Williams posted an image of her trainers on grass and captioned it: "SW and SW19. It's a date. 2022, see you there."

She also tagged Eastbourne, where a WTA event takes place in the week before Wimbledon, which begins on June 27.

Williams has won seven Wimbledon titles, the most recent of those in 2016, having since lost in the 2018 and 2019 finals.

The American is one major title shy of matching Margaret Court's long-standing record of 24, which has been the case since her most recent triumph at the 2017 Australian Open.

She missed last year's US Open on home soil, as well as this year's Australian Open and French Open.

Simona Halep won her first match on grass since 2019 as she cruised past Lesia Tsurenko to reach the second round of the Birmingham Classic on Monday.

Halep's last grass-court match was the impressive 6-2 6-2 defeat of Serena Williams in the 2019 Wimbledon final.

While Monday's triumph may not have been of comparable importance, the 6-1 6-4 win was a positive step in Halep's preparation for a return to SW19 later this month.

After saving three break points in the very first game, the former world number one rarely looked in trouble against her Ukrainian opponent, breaking Tsurenko's serve at the first opportunity.

She repeated the feat to go 5-1 up before serving to love to close out the set, though Tsurenko showed a bit more fight at the start of the second – only one of the first five service games was a hold.

Halep ultimately weathered the storm, however, taking her chance to go 5-4 up and once again served to love to wrap up the match.

Seeded second, Halep was the only seed in action on Monday and will meet home favourite Harriet Dart next, with the Brit impressively seeing off Camila Osorio – ranked 45 places better off – 6-2 6-0.

In Berlin, fourth and sixth seeds Karolina Pliskova and Daria Kasatkina secured their passage to the last 16.

Pliskova struggled initially against Kaia Kanepi but went on to produce two near-flawless sets to progress 6-7 (6-8) 6-0 6-0 – Kasatkina also came from behind, with an ankle injury to Anhelina Kalinina potentially aiding her 5-7 6-3 6-1 victory.

Bianca Andreescu was also among the winners in Berlin, with the Canadian beating Katerina Siniakova to claim only her second career success on grass.

Andrey Rublev was a surprise first-round loser at the Halle Open, while numerous seeds fell on the first day of the Queen's Club Championships.

Rublev came unstuck against Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili, succumbing to a 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 loss as the world number eight crashed out in Germany.

Laslo Djere progressed after Henri Squire retired when 4-3 down, while sixth seed Pablo Carreno Busta secured a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) over French Open quarter-finalist Holger Rune.

Ugo Humber got the better of a topsy-turvy affair against qualifier Radu Albot, eventually triumphing 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 and Mackenzie McDonald defeated Marc-Andrea Huesler in straight sets.

Fourth favourite Taylor Fritz went down 6-3 6-3 against British wildcard Jack Draper, his first career win against a top-20 ranked player.

Reilly Opelka, the eighth seed, crashed out in the first round to New Zealand's Alex de Minaur, who claimed a straightforward 6-4 6-4 win.

Grigor Dimitrov, who won the event in 2014, battled past third seed Cameron Norrie 6-7 (2-7) 6-1 6-4, while Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina eased past compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-5 6-4.

Alexander Bublik was 6-3 up before Italian Lorenzo Musetti retired, while seventh seed Marin Cilic capped the day's play in London by beating home hope Liam Broady 6-1 4-6 7-5.

Andy Murray has withdrawn from the Queen's Club Championships due to an abdominal injury, leaving his Wimbledon participation in doubt.

The former world number one made a great start to the grass-court season, reaching the Stuttgart Open final before falling to Matteo Berrettini.

Murray experienced discomfort during that showpiece in Germany, twice requiring medical timeouts as he battled the pain against the Italian.

The three-time grand slam winner Murray is a five-time Queen's champion but has had to pull out of the tournament, just two weeks before Wimbledon starts.

"After having a scan this afternoon, an abdominal injury means I won't be fit to compete at Queen's this year," Murray said in a statement.

"The tournament means a lot to me, and it's disappointing not to compete, especially after playing some good matches on the grass already."

The Scot was scheduled to play Italy's Lorenzo Sonego in the first round, but has been replaced by lucky loser Denis Kudla.

Daniil Medvedev has replaced Novak Djokovic as world number one ahead of the start of Wimbledon, where the Russian is banned from featuring.

The ATP and WTA boards decided to remove ranking points from the third grand slam of the year, with Russian and Belarusian players not allowed to compete due to the invasion of Ukraine.

The 26-year-old Medvedev will miss out from the grass-court major, which starts on June 27, alongside Andrey Rublev, Aryna Sabalenka, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Victoria Azarenka.

But that could aid Medvedev's cause at the end of the tournament as Djokovic is the defending champion and therefore would have more ranking points to lose.

Djokovic has dropped to third in the world rankings, with the injured Alexander Zverev – who made the French Open semi-finals before retiring against Rafael Nadal – in second.

That means it is the first time since November 2003 that none of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Andy Murray have appeared in the top two rankings spots.

Medvedev, who lost in the final of the Rosmalen Grass Court Championship on Sunday, became the first player other than Djokovic, Nadal, Federer or Murray to top the men's rankings in 18 years when he replaced the Serb as number one in February.

Andy Murray is unsure of the severity of his abdominal injury, but is hopeful it will not affect his preparations for Wimbledon.

The three-time grand slam winner struggled with the issue during Sunday's 6-4 5-7 6-3 defeat to Matteo Berrettini in the Stuttgart Open final.

Murray, who was competing in his first tour-level final on grass since 2016, twice received medical treatment but was able to finish the match.

He played five matches in Germany last week and four matches in Surbiton the week before en route to reaching the semi-finals.

Murray is due to play at Queen's this week before Wimbledon in a fortnight.

While frustrated with the manner in which his bid for a first grass-court singles title in six years ended, Murray says it is understandable that he is struggling physically.

"I felt like I was playing well enough to win and I got myself in a really good position going into the third set so a frustrating end to what was a good week," he said.

"I got some pain in my abdomen when I was serving. It's not something I've had before. I'll need to get it checked when I get home.

"This is the most matches I've played in two weeks since probably 2016. That's a really long time. 

"It's probably normal that I would feel some stuff in my body but I don't really know the severity of it. Hopefully it's all right."

Matteo Berrettini secured his sixth ATP Tour title with a 6-4 5-7 6-3 victory over Andy Murray at the Stuttgart Open.

Berrettini, playing in his first tournament since injury, raced out the blocks to break Murray in just his second service game, before the Scot failed to capitalise on four break points in the following game.

A similar pattern continued for the remainder of the first set, with neither player able to capitalise on break-point opportunities before Berrettini claimed the 1-0 lead with a booming forehand down the line.

That was the first set that Murray had lost in the tournament and he responded by producing a gritty performance in the second.

Berrettini squandered three chances to break at 4-4 before a double fault in the tie-break handed Murray three set points, and the three-time grand slam champion duly obliged to level.

The Italian opened the decider with a break, with Murray requiring a medical timeout for a leg injury, and the world number 10 claimed victory after his opponent had required more treatment.

Berrettini added a second Stuttgart crown to his name, having lifted the title in 2019, while it was his third grass-court success.

The 26-year-old will look to carry that form into Wimbledon, which starts on June 27, while the injury will be of concern to Murray, who was denied his first title since 2019.