Serena Williams

Now that she's beaten Serena Williams in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, 19-year-old American tennis player Sloane Stephens is planning to switch out her tennis shoes for a pair of Jimmy Choos. She says she will spend a portion of the $526,793 she won for reaching the semifinals on a pair of the coveted shoes -- but she's banking most of the rest of it. [Wall Street Journal] Stephens went on to lose to top-seeded and defending champ Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals on Thursday, by the way. [ESPN]

With her march back to the No. 1 ranking complete, Serena Williams promptly lost in the finals of the Qatar Open to the woman she will replace atop the world rankings. It's odd how sports and rankings work that way. Victoria Azarenka of Belarus successfully defender her Qatar Open title by defeating Williams, 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3, on Sunday in Doha. It was Azarenka's 14th consecutive victory this season, including her triumph in the Australian Open last month. And, despite ending a 10-match losing streak to Williams, her American rival will somehow replace her atop the WTA rankings on Monday.

LONDON -- The good news is Serena Williams is finishing her matches so quickly that she can get to the other pressing Olympic duties of the day. As in keeping an eye on gymnastics and swimming, namely her good friend swim star Ryan Lochte, who was to compete against Michael Phelps later on Thursday in the 200-meter individual medley. The minor issue of an Olympic quarterfinal singles match didn't get in the way. Williams, fresh off her Wimbledon win last month, dispatched former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, 6-0, 6-3, never facing a break point on her own serve.

Tennis player Serena Williams has had a quite a summer, winning Wimbledon, followed by two Olympic golds, and finally clinching her fourth U.S. Open title on Sunday. Should Williams be preparing for a post-tennis career, she's got at least one impressive skill to add her to her resume: She does a mean karaoke. In a Monday visit to "Late Night," Williams revealed to Jimmy Fallon that she celebrated her U.S. Open triumph as any girl would do -- by hitting up her favorite karaoke joint and singing her favorite soft rock hits of the '80s.

Serena Williams, who will take over No. 1 in the world tennis rankings Monday, defeated Maria Sharapova on Saturday to advance to the finals of the Qatar Open. Williams, who will become the oldest woman to hold the top ranking, will now play the woman she's replacing atop those rankings, Victoria Azarenka, in the championship match Sunday. Sharapova didn't put up much opposition on Saturday, with Williams defeating the Russian, 6-3, 6-2. Azarenka, who has beaten Williams only once in 11 meetings, defeated Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-3, 6-3, in the other semifinal.

  You can ask Serena Williams a lot of questions, just make sure they are uplifting ones and don't really reference her post-victory dance at the London Olympics. In New York for the U.S. Open, Williams got a little testy over the weekend when a reporter asked her about the negative comments her dance received. "I read zero press," Williams said. "That has been my policy since I was 17. I don't know what was made too much of or whether it was too little. I think winning the Olympics was awesome for me and for the USA. "I'm still kind of in the Olympic moment.

NEW YORK -- Serena Williams hasn't lost a set in this U.S. Open and perhaps not coincidentally her mood has remained tranquil. Williams, 30, who exited the last two U.S. Opens she played after having angry meltdowns on the court, appears on track to win her fourth U.S. Open this year. Williams, seeded fourth, smashed 10th-seeded Italian Sara Errani, 6-1, 6-2, Friday in the semifinals. Williams has lost only 19 games in her first six matches here. Williams ended her semifinal win with her ninth ace and then she blew kisses to the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.

Serena Williams beat Russian Maria Kirilenko , 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, at the Bank of the West Classic to set up a quarterfinal match with Maria Sharapova in a battle of former world No. 1s. "I'm sure we'll both go out and do the best each of us can," Williams said. "It's nothing personal. It's my job and I want to get paid. I leave it on the court. " Williams is playing her third tournament since winning at Wimbledon last year, and the first tournament on U.S. soil since the 2009 U.S. Open.

Serena Williams moved a step closer to successfully defending her Australian Open title and extracted some family revenge Saturday with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Carla Suarez Navarro. Last year, Suarez Navarro beat Venus Williams in the second round. The Spaniard didn't even get close this time. Serena Williams' only real difficulty at Hisense Arena was in closing the first set, needing eight set points in a game that went to deuce 13 times and lasted longer than the previous five games combined.

Serena Williams is headed back to the top. Williams needed only to win her second-round match at the China Open on Tuesday to reclaim the No. 1 ranking, because the current top-ranked player, Dinara Safina , couldn't get past that early round at the tournament. Coming in, Williams had to fare better than Safina in Beijing to move to the top of the rankings next week. Safina lost to local wild-card entry Zhang Shuai in the second round Monday. Williams then needed just over one hour for a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.