• Christopher Clarey

With his 18th and most unexpected Grand Slam singles title in hand, it was not unreasonable to wonder if Roger Federer might steal a move from his friend and one-time tennis role model Pete Sampras and call it a career on the highest possible note.

Australia's Samantha Stosur has become the latest victim of rising Croatian star Ana Konjuh.

Bernard Tomic's unhappy start to the 2017 ATP Tour season has continued in Florida.

• Barney Henderson

A glamorous tennis star and handsome nobody, brought together by a fairytale sporting comeback and a relationship played out to the world on social media.

Incoming Tennis Australia head of performance Wally Masur will attempt to bring the Tomic family back into the fold after their relationship soured under his predecessor Pat Rafter.

Genie Bouchard kept her word after the Atlanta Falcons lost the lead.

• Marissa Payne

The ESPN tennis commentator who was fired last month after being accused of using racist language to describe Venus Williams's playing style at the Australian Open has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the network.

Boris Becker believes Maria Sharapova has paid her dues and deserves a second chance when she returns to tennis in April at the end of her 15-month doping ban.

Rafael Nadal's uncle, Toni Nadal, will step down as his coach after this year's ATP Tour, as he feels he has been sidelined by other figures in the player's entourage, he told an Italian tennis magazine.

German tennis has responded with outrage after the United States Tennis Association made the embarrassing error of playing the Nazi-era version of Germany's national anthem during a Fed Cup tie in Hawaii.

• Simon Briggs

Denis Shapovalov's wild - and unintentional - attack on umpire Arnaud Gabas turns out to have caused some damage after all, although at least it was not to Gabas's vision.

French umpire Arnaud Gabas has had surgery to repair a fractured eye socket after being hit by a ball from Canada's Denis Shapovalov during a Davis Cup tie with Britain.

• James Polson

Australia's women remain in the Fed Cup wilderness for another year after Ukraine secured a clean sweep of the singles rubbers to win their World Group II playoff tie in Kharkiv.

• Eamonn Tiernan

Tennis ACT will submit an expression of interest to Tennis Australia in a bid to bring Davis Cup action to Canberra for the first time.

• James Polson

Australia's hopes of returning to the head table of women's tennis are hanging by a thread after Alicia Molik's team lost the opening singles rubbers of their Fed Cup World Group II tie against Ukraine in Kharkiv.

Daria Gavrilova has lost in straight sets to Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko in the opening rubber of Australia's Fed Cup World Group II tie against Ukraine in Kiev.

• Linda Pearce

Teenager Alex De Minaur dreams of playing for Australia, winning grand slam tournaments and becoming world No.1 – and his hero and mentor Lleyton Hewitt says he's doing all the right things to get there.

• Eamonn Tiernan

The man who coached Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi to world No.1 has a different view to most on Nick Kyrgios.

Australia's Fed Cup team are battling the bitter cold and the absence of Samantha Stosur as they look to win a place back at the top table of women's tennis.

Former world number one Maria Sharapova has been invited to play at the Madrid Open in May, which takes place less than two weeks after her 15-month doping ban expires, tournament organisers said on Wednesday.

• Scott Spits

We saw the best of sport in 2016, a year boasting some remarkable sporting fairytales. Here's a look into the crystal ball to ponder some sporting scenarios that, yes, may seem unlikely now but should they somehow eventuate, might leave you smiling again.

• Danielle Rendina

Forget the Lombardi Trophy. The New England Patriots' stunning comeback win over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51 earned one fan a date with Canadian tennis star Genie Bouchard.

• Daniel Cherny

Canada have sensationally been eliminated from their first-round Davis Cup tie against Great Britain after player Denis Shapovalov was defaulted for hitting the chair umpire in the face with a ball.

• Linda Pearce

Brisbane appeals as a potential home for the Davis Cup quarter-final to be played against the US in April, on a surface - hardcourt - that has already been determined.

• Linda Pearce

All had gone exactly as planned for the Australians over the first two days.

• Linda Pearce

With a 3-0 sweep against the depleted Czech Repubic at Kooyong, Australia have reached the last eight of the Davis Cup for the second time in three years.

Argentina's defence of the Davis Cup tennis title looks set to end less than three months after they finally won the trophy for the first time.

• Linda Pearce

Bernard Tomic's replacement Jordan Thompson made a winning start to his Davis Cup career, passing the baton and a 1-0 lead to Nick Kyrgios, who extended it to 2-0 with Usain Bolt-like speed. The first round tie against the Czech Republic could be over by Saturday afternoon. Bernie who?

• Linda Pearce

While Nick Kyrgios may be this weekend's headline act at Kooyong, John Peers is quietly making news of his own.