Margaret Court does not believe Serena Williams has ever "admired" her and claims the modern game is significantly easier than it was in her own era.
Williams, widely considered one of the greatest sportspeople of all time, stepped away from top-level tennis following defeat to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the US Open.
Although her time on tour now looks to be over, the 40-year-old admitted "you never know" when asked about future appearances, but a U-turn is widely considered to be highly improbable.
Williams is bowing out with 23 grand slam singles wins – one fewer than record holder Court.
Court, 80, is a Pentecostal church pastor now and has been criticised in recent years for comments about race, homosexuality and the transgender community.
She was blunt when asked about her feelings on Williams, telling the Telegraph: "Serena, I've admired her as a player. But I don't think she has ever admired me."
Court won her grand slam singles titles between 1960 and 1973, and the Australian believes players in the modern era have it much easier than she did during her remarkable career.
"I would love to have played in this era; I think it's so much easier," she said. "How I would love to have taken family or friends along with me. But I couldn't, I had to go on my own or with the national team.
"People don't see all that. As amateurs, we had to play every week, because we didn't have any money. Now, they can take off whenever they want, fly back whenever they want.
"We would be away for 10 months. That's why I first retired in 1965, because I used to get homesick. You might be with the odd other person, but it's not like having your family there.
"We didn't have psychologists or coaches with us. It's a whole different world. That's what disappoints me; that players today don't honour the past of the game."
Caroline Garcia has dialled up the aggression and is reaping the rewards as the Frenchwoman emerges as a serious title contender at the US Open.
On Sunday, Garcia moved through to the quarter-finals by beating Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-4 6-1 on Louis Armstrong Stadium.
She has won four matches without dropping a set in the first week of the grand slam in Queens, New York, but that is just the continuation of a sensational hot streak.
Garcia, now 28, has won 30 of her last 34 matches, landing titles in Bad Homburg, Warsaw and Cincinnati along the way.
At the 2011 French Open, ATP superstar Andy Murray was so taken by the 17-year-old Garcia's performance against Maria Sharapova that he predicted: "The girl Sharapova is playing is going to be number one in the world one day."
Perhaps Murray will turn out to be right after all, with that forecast having long hung over Garcia, as well intended as it was at the time.
She reached a peak of number four in 2018 but was down at 79th on the WTA list in late May of this year.
Now she sits 17th and will keep climbing after reaching the last eight at the US Open for the first time.
On a 12-match winning streak at present, Garcia said after sinking the hopes of American Riske-Amritraj: "I'm so excited to be in the quarters of the US Open. It's been a great couple of weeks for me."
She came through qualifying to win the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, beating Petra Kvitova in that final after felling three seeds along the way.
Recent wins over Iga Swiatek in Poland and Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon, beating home favourites, have showed Garcia is suddenly fearless.
"I'm really trying to play aggressive, go for my shots, even when I'm tight or even when I don't feel it," she said.
"It's how I improved so much in the last couple of months and I really enjoy playing like that, moving forward, and I'm having fun."
Garcia was not at her most fluent in the first set of Sunday's fourth-round match but improved and finished the contest having hit 30 winners.
She has only played one grand slam quarter-final before, losing to Karolina Pliskova at that stage in the 2017 French Open.
Suddenly, though, she is playing top-five standard tennis again, and Garcia will take some stopping.
"I want to enjoy every single win I have," Garcia said in an on-court interview.
"When you don't have them, you miss them, so I want to enjoy this one and recover and get ready for the big match in the quarter.
"I'm really having fun here in the US. I got a lot of confidence from Cincinnati, really enjoy the good energy in New York."
Max Verstappen has paid credit to his Red Bull team while suggesting his victories should also be attributed to him being an "exceptional driver" after Lewis Hamilton's recent comments.
The Red Bull man claimed another home triumph at the Dutch Grand Prix to move closer to a second successive world drivers' championship after last year's victory over the Briton.
The Dutchman has been the dominant driver in F1 this season with a superb car, and Mercedes racer Hamilton previously paid tribute to the technical staff, led by Adrian Newey, at the rival team.
The latter's praise notably omitted credit for Verstappen, who edged him for the title in controversial circumstances last year, and whose partner's father, former driver Nelson Piquet, was involved in a racism storm over the seven-time world champion earlier this year.
Asked on Hamilton's comments after victory at Circuit Zandvoort, Verstappen acknowledged the efforts of his team to aid his quest, but also reinforced that he plays just as much of a crucial part in his own success.
"A lot of that is down to the team, of course, as it's also how Lewis won his championships," he stated. "That's how it goes in Formula 1.
"Your car is super important, but I think when you're an exceptional driver like Lewis is as well, you make a difference over your team-mate at the time, in very crucial races as well.
"You end up winning a race like that and that is, at the end of the day, what good drivers do. They do make the difference compared to other fast drivers.
"The car is very dominant in Formula 1 but of course between team-mates, only one can win, and that's where you have to make the difference."
An emotional Oliver Wilson fought back tears after securing a one-stroke Made in Denmark victory to secure his second DP World Tour title eight years after his first.
The 41-year-old finished on 21 under to edge out Scotsman Ewen Ferguson and finally add to his Alfred Dunhill Links Championship triumph in 2014.
Wilson carded a closing 67 in Farso on Sunday to keep his rivals at bay in a tense finale.
He holed a brilliant long putts at the 13th and 17th holes to take a one-shot advantage to the final hole and was emotional after finishing off the job.
"I knew I could get the job done," he stated. "Everything I've done to this point to rebuild my game, I knew I could do it. I was so in control, and I said I wasn't going to cry!
"I was so calm there. I almost enjoyed the last hole. It's pretty special. I'm so proud of myself. I feel like there's a lot ahead of me and I'm so pleased to get win number two.
"I love this place. I've done well here before. I guess 18 years' experience gets you to hang in there. And to get over the line, it feels good. It feels so good."
Ferguson was runner-up following a final round of 66, while Norway's Kristian Krogh Johannessen was third on 18 under.
Thymen Arensman climbed to his first Grand Tour stage win on the Hoya de la Mora as Remco Evenepoel retained the Vuelta a Espana lead on a gruelling Sunday.
Arensman powered his way up to the highest summit of La Vuelta to claim a brilliant victory on a lung-busting stage 15.
It was only a second professional stage win for the Team DSM rider and the biggest of his career, with the Dutchman powering up the road in the Sierra Nevada mountains to cross the line a minute and 23 seconds before Enric Mas.
Miguel Angel Lopez and Jay Vine finished third and fourth respectively, ahead of defending champion Primoz Roglic who was able to chip a further 15 seconds off Evenepoel's advantage courtesy of a late attack.
Evenepoel will start the final week in La Roja following a rest day on Monday, after the Belgian finished what was billed as the 'queen stage' in 10th place on the road.
A strong ride from Mas left him just over two minutes adrift of race leader Evenepoel in the general classification standings.
Jay Vine kept the polka dot jersey in the battle to be crowned king of the mountains in a brutal 153-kilometre route that started in Martos.
Arensman the king of the Sierra Nevada
Arensman reeled in Marc Soler with 7km to go and had enough in the tank to go solo for the victory.
Spaniard Soler had gone on his own from a breakaway group of 12 riders, taking on the challenge at the front up the steepest section of the Alto de Hazallanas, and opened up a lead of around 40 seconds.
He was unable to see it through, though, as Arensman passed him and the 22-year-old stage winner looked in disbelief as he crossed the finishing line.
STAGE RESULT
1. Thymen Arensman (Team DSM) 4:17:17
2. Enric Mas (Movistar) +1:23
3. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) +1:25
4. Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +1:30
5. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1:44
CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS
General Classification
1. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 56:40:49
2. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1:34
3. Enric Mas (Movistar) +2:01
Points Classification
1. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) 284
2. Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) 111
3. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 107
King of the Mountains
1. Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 59
2. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Greandiers) 30
3. Thymen Arensman (Team DSM) 22
Fabio Quartararo was left "more than angry" after Francesco Bagnaia closed the gap in the battle for the MotoGP title by winning the San Marino Grand Prix,
Bagnaia became the first Ducati rider to win four successive races with victory in Misano after holding off the pressure from future team-mate Enea Bastianini.
Championship leader Quartararo had to settle for fifth on Sunday after starting the race in eighth before two riders crashed out in front of him.
Quartararo battled with Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro, who the Frenchman managed to overtake by lap six.
He could not make any further progress, though, and was left frustrated after Bagnaia cut his advantage to 30 points in the championship standings.
"That was the limit," said Quartararo, who finished over five seconds behind Bagnaia. "More than angry, I was really frustrated, because I gave my 100 per cent and could not fight for more.
"Any more than that and I think I would be on the floor… we arrived really on the limit of our bike today.
"There was no problem, that's the thing. If you check the pace, I had the same pace as practice. I felt quite good on the bike.
"I made a really good race today, but it's only P5 and five seconds from the top. So we are not in a great position."
Quartararo heads into the final six rounds of the 2022 season with mixed feelings as he battles with Bagnaia and third-placed A;eix Espargaro, who has 33 points to make up.
"No, I will not say I'm worried [about the championship], but I'm also not calm," he said. "I have just been more consistent than Pecco [Bagnaia], but in the speed we are so slow."
Bagnaia says he will only begin dreaming of the championship when within touching distance of the Yamaha rider.
"I've already made too many mistakes [this season] thinking about the championship," Bagnaia said.
"My objective is to now be always competitive, always fast, always in front and try to win.
"I don't want to think about the championship, just to be more focused on my objective and to remain focused on the schedule during the weekend. I prefer to think like that."
Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes had "a car to win" the Dutch Grand Prix and apologised to his team for an outburst after he missed out on a podium finish.
The seven-time world champion looked to be in with a shout of claiming his first win of a difficult season, one which has seen him off the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari.
But after a late safety car that saw the team decide to keep him on existing old tyres, the Briton was swiftly deposed from the lead of the race by eventual winner and incumbent world champion Max Verstappen.
Team-mate George Russell and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc passed Hamilton in the closing stages to lock out the podium with fresh rubber, and the 37-year-old subsequently turned his fire on the team with his radio messages.
Hamilton said: "I can't believe you guys screwed me like that, I can't tell you how p****d I am right now."
Speaking afterwards, however, a more composed Hamilton offered apologies to his pit crew and team, and vowed to take the positives from an improved race performance, if not ultimately the final result, as he took fourth place.
"I think we had a car to win," he said. "Given the circumstance, we were challenged with lots of things, the safety car, the virtual safety car.
"The strategy and car have been so good today, the pit stops were the best. I was really hopeful we'd get a one-two together as a team, but the safety car really didn't help.
"I was on the edge of breaking point with emotions, so my apologies to the team. I just lost it for a second, but I think they know there's just so much passion.
"I want to look at it as a glass half full. Without the safety car, I think we'd have been challenging at the end for the win. If this can be the same in the future races, we can breathe down their necks and get a win.
"Last race, we were miles away and we couldn't even understand how we could be so far away. Yesterday, I was pole up until the last corner.
"There's a huge positive to take from that and our race pace seems to be better or as good as everyone else, so let's not give up."
Toto Wolff declared "it was worth taking the risk" for both Mercedes drivers to pit with Lewis Hamilton leading the Dutch Grand Prix, despite the Briton fuming on the team radio after the race.
Hamilton was pushing towards a first race victory of the season on Sunday at Zandvoort, where he was embroiled in a gripping battle with reigning world champion Max Verstappen.
Seven-time champion Hamilton seemed to seize the initiative after Verstappen pitted following a second safety car deployment due to apparent engine issues for Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas.
While Hamilton surged into the lead, Mercedes decided the 37-year-old should pit and also called in team-mate George Russell, losing the buffer advantage over Verstappen.
That was to allow both Hamilton and Russell to compete for the win in the closing stages, but that plan came unstuck as Verstappen surged into the lead on lap 61 before easing to victory.
As Verstappen embarked on his victory lap in front of a boisterous home crowd, Hamilton furiously questioned the call over the team radio – a decision that Mercedes team principal Wolff later defended.
"First of all, Lewis is ahead. So, we're always having a problem with the call," Wolff told Sky Sports when asked about the decision.
"You can do two things. You can either pit Lewis, lose track position against Verstappen, and leave George out – screwed. You can pit both – screwed. So, it was worth taking the risk."
While Wolff defended the decision in his post-race interview, he admitted on the team radio to Hamilton that the gamble did not pay dividends, adding: "Yeah Lewis, sorry it didn't work out.
"We did what we discussed in the morning, we took a risk. It didn't work. Let's discuss it between us in the office."
Having squandered the lead to Verstappen, Hamilton slipped down to fourth after being overtaken by second-placed Russell and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
Max Verstappen expressed his pride after a far from straightforward victory at the Dutch Grand Prix, where the Red Bull driver overcame the pursuit of Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton seemed set to push for his first victory of 2022 at Zandvoort on Sunday but was stifled by pitting decisions and safety car deployments.
A virtual safety car was deployed after AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda was forced to stop following tyre concerns, offering Verstappen a fortuitous pit stop when embroiled in a battle at the front with Hamilton.
Another safety car followed after Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas stopped citing engine concerns, with Verstappen again pitting – arguably a surprising decision that seemed to hand Hamilton the initiative.
But Verstappen roared back in typically aggressive fashion to overtake the seven-time world champion on the main straight of lap 61, before easing to victory ahead of George Russell in second.
That marked a 10th victory of the season for Verstappen, his joint-best return in a single year, while he became the first driver since James Hunt in 1975 and 1976 to win back-to-back F1 races at Zandvoort.
After delivering in front of a largely partisan crowd in the Netherlands, Verstappen credited Red Bull's decisions that ensured he held off Hamilton through the latter stages of the race.
"It was not a straightforward race but we had to push, of course with safety car, virtual safety car, making the right calls," he said on Sky Sports during his post-race interview.
"Always a bit of question mark but it worked out really well. Once we got back to the soft tyres we had great pace again."
Asked whether he harboured any doubts over decisions as Hamilton pressed on, Verstappen added: "We timed it really well out of that last corner into the banking.
"You could see the draft was quite strong and we got ahead. It's incredible to win again.
"It's always special to win your home GP. This year I had to work for it even more. An incredible weekend and I'm really happy we got the Dutch GP."
Charles Leclerc started second on the grid after being edged out by Verstappen in Saturday's qualifying session, though the Ferrari driver had to settle for third on race day despite promising early signs of pace.
The Monegasque racer may have finished on the podium but sits 109 points behind championship leader Verstappen, and Leclerc conceded the Red Bull driver was a class above at the Dutch Grand Prix.
"To be honest, it was difficult to do much better," Leclerc said. "We were a little unlucky with the [virtual safety car]. I don't know if this would have changed anything – Max was too quick today.
"Then there was Mercedes, which were flying on the hard tyres. We struggled to find the feeling on the hard tyres, so we'll analyse that."
Max Verstappen held off a spirited push from Lewis Hamilton to secure a second consecutive Dutch Grand Prix victory and extend his championship lead to 109 points.
The reigning Formula One champion edged out Charles Leclerc in qualifying to put himself in pole position ahead of Sunday's eventful race, where George Russell finished second and Charles Leclerc took third. Hamilton eventually faded to fourth.
AlphiTauri's Yuki Tsunoda and Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas both stopped midway through the race, with Verstappen's pit stop after the second safety car allowing Hamilton to take the lead.
Yet Verstappen recovered and regained the lead by going past Hamilton down the main straight on lap 61 to claim a fourth consecutive victory and 10th of the season, his joint-best return in a single year after also hitting double figures last year.
The top five retained their positions during an eventful start where Hamilton and Carlos Sainz touched cars through turn one, while Haas' Kevin Magnussen slipped off the track and hit the barrier.
Verstappen continued to keep Leclerc at bay through the opening 10 laps, responding to the Ferrari driver's early signs of pace by pressing forward to move out of DRS range.
A problematic pit stop for Sainz in which no rear-left tyre appeared available saw the Ferrari drop from third to 11th on lap 15, with Hamilton displacing the Spaniard as Verstappen stretched his lead over Leclerc.
Sainz recovered into sixth as Verstappen pitted for the first time on lap 19, with Hamilton – still winless in 2022 – taking the lead as Mercedes ran a one-two with Russell in second.
Verstappen roared back before a pit stop for Hamilton, who then got the better of Sergio Perez as the Mexican aimed to protect his Red Bull team-mate's lead.
A virtual safety car deployed after issues for Tsunoda offered a glorious chance to pit on lap 48 for Verstappen, who led Hamilton by almost 16 seconds with 23 laps to go after the Mercedes driver pitted.
Verstappen squandered his advantage by pitting after another safety car deployment, but he recovered to surge back into the lead with 11 laps to go to race to victory.
Russell and Hamilton almost collided as the former looked to overtake into second, with the seven-time world champion slipping down to fourth after Leclerc eased past him.
Francesco Bagnaia claimed a dramatic victory at the San Marino Grand Prix after holding off future team-mate Enea Bastianini in Misano.
The 14th race of the MotoGP World Championship went right down to the wire between the two Italians, who will team up at Ducati for the 2023 season.
But despite intense pressure from his compatriot over the final few laps, Bagnaia held his nerve to prevail by a mere 0.034 seconds.
In closing the gap on championship leader Fabio Quartararo, who finished fifth, to 30 points Bagnaia becomes the first Ducati rider to win four successive races.
Maverick Vinales completed the podium, while Andrea Dovizioso finished 12th in the final race of his MotoGP career.
Following a three-place grid penalty in qualifying, Bagnaia started in P5 with Jack Miller having ensured his first pole in four years.
However, the Australian fell in just the second lap after slipping at turn four, while Marco Bezzecchi followed a few turns later.
Bagnaia first led in lap three with Bastianini, Vinales and Luca Marini for company, and Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro further back.
As Marini fell away, a couple of untidy corners saw Vinales also lose ground with eight laps to go; setting up a straight race between Bagnaia and Bastianini for the chequered flag.
Though Bastianini gradually closed the gap over the final four laps, he missed a couple of opportunities to pass as a stubborn Bagnaia held out to maintain his winning streak by the finest of margins.
"I struggled at the start because the grip was not so high," he said. "I was struggling to find some traction. But my feeling with the tyres was getting better lap by lap.
"In the last laps, I was trying to push to open a gap, but Enea was too fast. I'm very happy to win today. It wasn't the best start from P5, but we did it."
TOP 10
1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati)
2. Enea Bastianini (Gresini) +0.034
3. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) +4.212
4. Luca Marini (Ducati) +5.283
5. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) +5.771
6. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) +10.230
7. Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) +12.496
8. Brad Binder (KTM) +14.661
9. Jorge Martin (Ducati) +17.732
10. Alex Marquez (Honda) +21.986
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Riders
1. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) - 211
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) - 181
3. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) - 178
4. Enea Bastianini (Gresini) - 138
5. Johann Zarco (Ducati) - 125
Teams
1. Ducati - 279
2. Aprilia Racing - 253
3. Monster Energy Yamaha - 226
4. Pramac Racing - 212
5. Red Bull KTM - 192
Paul McGinley says it "breaks my heart" to see a number of his close friends and former Ryder Cup team-mates join the controversial LIV Golf Invitational Series.
Golf has been divided over the past six months by the arrival of the Saudi-backed breakaway, which has seen a number of high-profile names defect from the PGA Tour.
Six more players were announced by LIV Golf this week, including reigning Open champion Cameron Smith, ahead of the series' latest big-money event in Boston.
The PGA Tour has banned those competing in LIV Golf from taking part in any of their competitions, though that is subject to another legal challenge.
The DP World Tour was unsuccessful in doing so, meanwhile, and 18 LIV players will compete in the PGA Championship at Wentworth next week.
That includes the likes of Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter, each of whom McGinley has previously teamed up with for Ryder Cup duty.
McGinley finds the rift difficult to accept and claims that no player on the DP World Tour wants the LIV golfers involved at Wentworth.
"It breaks my heart because I have an emotional connection with every one of those players," he told The Sunday Times.
"I will see Poulter and I'll shake his hand at Wentworth, the same with Westwood and all of those guys that I shared team rooms with. That bond will never be broken.
"But we're definitely on different sides now. And it's really sad that it has come to this. Every one of those players knew the consequences when they signed with LIV.
"They also knew there was the potential for the Ryder Cup to be collateral damage in all of this. They still think they can play in the Ryder Cup.
"Who knows what's going to happen in six months' time? I think, at this stage, it's highly unlikely that any of them will be involved in the Ryder Cup again.
"If this is how it pans out, it won't be because of [DP World Tour chief executive] Keith Pelley or the board say so.
"It's because our members, the players who have remained loyal to our tour, don't want the LIV guys anywhere near the Ryder Cup.
"The feeling is that you cannot play [for] both sides. Mo Salah doesn't get to play for Liverpool one week and Real Madrid the next. LIV is a rival tour."
James Slipper wants Australia to "hurt" after they were consigned to a 24-8 Rugby Championship defeat by South Africa.
The Springboks overpowered the Wallabies at Allianz Stadium on Saturday, outscoring them by four tries to one.
Debutant Canan Moodie, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi and Franco Mostert crossed as the world champions joined Australia and Argentina on nine points, one behind leaders New Zealand.
Slipper, captain in the absence of Michael Hooper, says Dave Rennie's side should be feeling the pain after they were well beaten in Sydney.
He said: "I want the boys to hurt. Yes, South Africa were good, but I felt like we didn't play much rugby at all.
"We wanted to review last week and be a better rugby team. At no stage should we think we're the finished product.
"Individually we need to look at ourselves. I'm confident we're tracking in the right direction. We just need a bit more polish. We need to execute under pressure."
Australia's next assignment is a Bledisloe Cup opener against the All Blacks on September 15 and Slipper expects them to come back stronger after their hopes of winning the competition took a blow.
"It's tough when you're walking off the field after a loss, but we've got a lot of confidence in the group that we have," he said.
"We're after consistency and that's the big driver for us and when we start seeing that I feel that we'll see success coming our way."
Victory for the Springboks was their first in Australia for nine years and left the battle for the title wide open.
Tyson Fury declared "never say never" about joining WWE after playing a starring role at Clash at the Castle in the Cardiff.
The 34-year-old featured at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, joining in the headline clash between champion Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre.
Fury left his front-row seat in Cardiff when Austin Theory attempted to cash in his 'money in the bank' contract before downing the 25-year-old.
Reigns emerged victorious by pinning McIntyre before the pair were greeted in the ring by Fury, who treated the crowd to a rendition of Don McLean's 'American Pie'.
While Fury waits for a heavyweight unification clash against Oleksandr Usyk, he refused to rule out moving to WWE after his boxing career comes to an end.
"At the moment I'm a heavyweight world champion, and I have plenty of fights I have to take care of over the next few years," Fury responded when asked about the prospect of joining WWE.
"But I really, really have a passion for WWE. Never say never."
"Usyk was calling me out after his last fight with [Anthony] Joshua, I've replied and said let's do the fight this year, wherever they want to do it," Fury said.
"I've been waiting for offers from countries to come forward, and all of a sudden Usyk has stated he doesn't want to fight anymore, he wants to fight next year, not this year.
"So I'm not going to wait around for anybody, I'm announcing a fight next week."
Victoria Azarenka says vulnerable young female tennis players are "getting taken advantage of" as she called for improved safeguarding in the sport.
The Belarusian, who sits on an eight-person WTA players council, was speaking after Frenchwoman Fiona Ferro accused her former coach Pierre Bouteyre of rape and sexual assault.
Bouteyre strongly denied the allegations, with his lawyer telling AFP that he "recognises the relationship occurred but denies any coercion."
Speaking after her US Open victory over Petra Martic, Azarenka called for increased protection and says she would have a "very big concern" if she had a daughter who wanted to play professional tennis.
"It's a very sensitive subject because you won't hear those stories unless players come out and tell those stories," Azarenka said. "It happens right and left on the tour, which is unfortunate.
"Our job is to be better at safeguarding. As player council, it's almost like the number one subject to us. Because we see those vulnerable young ladies getting taken advantage of in different situations.
"It's really sad and really makes me emotional because I have a son [and] I don't see that happening so much on the men's tour.
"If I had a daughter, I would have to question would she want to play tennis, that would be a very big concern in that way for me.
"[The] recent story with Fiona Ferro that came out. I don't know how to put it in words sometimes. All you can do is check in on the person and kind of give your hand what I can do, what I can help with.
"I applaud her for being brave. I hope this situation she's gonna come out of it stronger and tennis is not ruined for her because of that. That's I think [a] very, very heavy topic.
"But it's the topic that has to come out more, and I think it's [journalists'] job also to not expose it. It sounds pretty weird when I say that, but do the research, help people to open up more.
"It's hopefully one by one [as we] try to eliminate that type of situation."
Zhang Shuai went winless in her first 14 appearances at major tournaments but has turned her fortunes around as she prepares for a US Open fourth-round clash with Coco Gauff.
The Chinese tennis player was said to be considering retirement in 2015 after 14 unsuccessful attempts at grand slams, though was convinced to keep fighting by friend and fellow competitor Sam Stosur.
Simona Halep at the 2016 Australian Open was the first scalp Zhang claimed at a major before she went on to reach the quarter-finals.
The 33-year-old, who has two grand slams titles in doubles with Stosur, has not looked back from that win over Halep and has made it to the second week at all four majors in 2022.
"This year, I already have three third rounds," Zhang said after her third-round win at the US Open. "Oh my god, I won six matches! Before I couldn't win one match in many, many years. How happy!
"That's why when we meet some players who want to stop or feels sad after the match, I always tell them next match, see how you are better.
"When I started the tour, how bad [were my] results? No one was worse than me. [These girls are] much better than me, right? You guys are still young. Keep trying."
Gauff awaits Zhang in the round-of-16 as the latter searches for a maiden major success and fourth singles title.
Chicago White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease lost his no-hitter bid on the last out as his side won 13-0 over the Minnesota Twins in the MLB on Saturday.
Cease enjoyed his longest no-hit bid of his career, and had two outs in the ninth inning before it was spoiled by a Luis Arraez line-drive single into right-center.
It was a cruel ending for Cease who had allowed only two base runners with walks, with seven strikeouts up until that point.
Cease became the second pitcher this season to fall one out short from a no-hitter, after St Louis Cardinals' Miles Mikolas in June.
The White Sox right-hander is the third pitcher to fall one short over the last five seasons. It would have been Chicago's third no-hitter of the last two years.
Cease instead settled for a career-first shutout, striking out Kyle Garlick shortly after Arraez spoiled his party.
Judge homers again as Yankees lose once more
Aaron Judge remains on track for 63 home runs this season after blasting his 52nd of the season in the New York Yankees' 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Judge's solo home run came in the ninth inning after the Yankees had gone 21 innings without scoring, with another defeat leaving them with a 15-26 record since the All-Star break.
Yandy Diaz came up with the decisive two-run single in the third inning while Corey Kluber allowed only two hits and no runs with four strikeouts across seven innings.
Riley keeps up streak as Braves walk it off
Austin Riley homered in the fourth consecutive game as the Atlanta Braves defeated the Miami Marlins in a 2-1 walk-off win. Riley also continued his 10-game on-base streak and seven-game hitting streak.
Riley hammered a line-drive blast left in the fourth inning to put the Braves up 1-0 but the Marlins would square it up in the ninth inning before a remarkable finale.
With bases loaded, Robbie Grossman provided the finish with a walk-off walk from Marlins closer Steven Okert.
World number one Iga Swiatek says she reminds herself that it is impossible to continually play at the level she achieved during her 37-match winning run earlier this year.
Swiatek reached the second week at the US Open for only the second time after Saturday's 6-3 6-4 win over Lauren Davis and has moved into title favouritism, creating a level of perceived pressure.
That comes amid a run of form where the 2020 and 2022 French Open champion has been far from the levels achieved during her 37-match winning streak which ended in July at the hands of Alize Cornet at Wimbledon.
Since then, Swiatek has only won seven of 10 matches. Swiatek's victory over Davis marked the first time since the winning streak that she has managed three straight victories.
The Pole's hard-court form line has not been compelling either but the exit of Serena Williams along with top seeds Anett Kontaveit, Maria Sakkari, Paula Badosa and Simona Halep has thrust her into US Open favouritism.
But the 21-year-old is trying not to put any extra pressure on herself with that in mind, nor re-discovering the form she displayed earlier in the year.
"Honestly I didn't even focus on that cause I still remember how it is to lose," Swiatek told reporters. "After the tournament in Cincinnati [when she lost to Madison Keys in August], I knew like it's not the end of the world that I'm losing in third round.
"It's not like the whole universe changed so right now I'm always going to be in quarter-finals or finals or whatever, win tournaments. I tried just to remind myself that it's kind of normal, that it's impossible to play always on the same level.
"Here I just took it match by match. I wasn't expecting maybe too much because of the losses, so that's good. It's not like I lost confidence or something. I still know anything can happen on these tournaments."
Swiatek admitted she lacked rhythm against Davis, who had led 4-1 in the second set, before the Pole fought back to win the final five games.
The 21-year-old won 21 of the final 25 points of the match, securing her 53rd victory of the 2022 season, closing in on Ash Barty's 57 from 2019.
"It wasn't as smooth as in first and second round," Swiatek said. "I'm pretty happy I made it through and could close it in second set and come back. That was pretty important for me.
"For sure she played totally differently than most of the players, which threw me a little bit off the rhythm. But I'm happy I was fighting till the end."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
