Serena Williams  

From Sachin Tendulkar always wearing his left pad first to Serena Williams bringing her shower sandals to the court, there are strange superstitions that athletes follow to keep their spirits high. 

The 19-year-old Bianca Andreescu became the youngest Grand Slam winner since Svetlana Kuznetsova at the 2004 US Open, handing Williams a fourth consecutive defeat in the final of a major to again deny her a record-equalling 24th Slam title

The Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal game at the Cape Town Stadium, built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, is set to break the attendance record of 35,681 for a tennis match set by Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams in 2010 in Brussels

The Forbes list of the world's top 15 female athletes is topped by Serena Williams, with total earnings of $ 29.2 million. Forbes said Williams, 37, plans to play through at least next year but is already planning her next act with a clothing line, 'S by Serena', and designs to launch jewellery and beauty products lines by the end of 2020

With the year drawing to a close, let us turn the pages backward and look at instances when our favourite teams from different sports bit the dust 

'For me, I don't feel sad because I wouldn't even know what I'm expected to feel,' Osaka said after the US Open final.

Martina Navratilova has come down hard on Serena Williams, saying that screaming at the umpire is wrong no matter if it is done by a man or a woman.

A few games later, Williams received another warning, this time for smashing her racquet, and that second violation cost her a point, leading to more arguing. Eventually, Willams called Ramos “a thief,” drawing a third violation — and costing her a game

Though her nerves on the tennis court don’t show it, it was a reminder of just how youthful the 20-year-old Osaka is. Not since Maria Sharapova was 19 in 2006 has the US Open had a younger women’s champion

On Saturday, Serena Williams will face No. 20 seed Naomi Osaka, a 20-year-old who is the first Japanese woman to reach a Grand Slam final