Roger Federer

Both the men's (ATP) and women's (WTA) professional games are suspended until at least mid-July due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Swiss great Federer pondered the possibility of bringing both tours under the governance of a singular body with a post on Twitter.

"Just wondering am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men's and women's tennis to be united and come together as one?" Federer asked.

Swiss great Federer will face off against his most famous rival in the sixth edition of the Match for Africa series, organised by the 20-time grand slam winner's foundation.

Federer will team up with Microsoft owner Bill Gates to face Nadal and Daily Show host Trevor Noah, who was born in South Africa, for a doubles encounter before the two tennis greats meet in a singles match.

When planning to host the event in Cape Town, Federer only had one opponent in mind and said he had been trying to enlist Nadal's help for some time.

Djokovic continued his imperious progress through the men's draw, negotiating a potentially tricky encounter with Diego Schwartzman 6-3 6-4 6-4 to reach the last eight at Melbourne Park for the 11th time.

The seven-times champion only added to a strong feeling around the tournament that the Serbian is again the man to beat at the year's first Grand Slam as he ousted the Argentine in just over two hours at Rod Laver Arena.

Federer, chasing a record-extending 21st Grand Slam, came from behind to beat Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-2.

A crowd of 42,217 watched an exhibition match between Federer and Zverev at Plaza de Toros Mexico – the world's largest bullring – in Mexico City on Saturday.

Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters had previously set the record in their exhibition contest in 2010, which attracted 35,681 fans in Brussels.

But that figure was topped as 20-time grand slam champion Federer defeated Zverev 3-6 6-4 6-2 in the "The Greatest Match".

Swiss icon Federer earned a brilliant 6-4 6-3 victory at the O2 Arena in London on Thursday to join Dominic Thiem in advancing to the semi-finals at the Serbian's expense.

It was the 19-time grand slam champion's first win against Djokovic – whose defeat meant Rafael Nadal will end 2019 as the world number one – since 2015, with the 32-year-old having been triumphant in each of their previous five encounters.

The most recent of those saw Djokovic stave off a championship point before clinching the Wimbledon title following a tie-break at 12-12 in the fifth set.

Austrian Thiem completed a hat-trick of wins over the 20-time grand slam champion in 2019 with a 7-5 7-5 victory on the opening day in London.

Federer now faces a tough task to advance from Group Bjorn Borg, which also contains Novak Djokovic and Matteo Berrettini.

The 38-year-old committed 30 unenforced errors and won 11 of 22 points on his second serve in an uneven showing at the O2 Arena on Sunday.

"I thought he played well. The start definitely didn't help. That put me on the back foot a little bit," Federer said.

The Swiss will be aiming to secure a third medal next year in Tokyo; he struck gold playing alongside Stan Wawrinka in the men's doubles in Beijing in 2008, then collected silver in the singles tournament four years later in London, falling in the final to home favourite Andy Murray.

Federer, 38, also represented his country at the Olympics in 2000, losing out in the bronze-medal match to Arnaud Di Pasquale, and 2004, but missed Rio 2016 while recovering from a knee injury.

Djokovic, the defending champion won 7-6, 2-6, 7-6, 1-6, 13-12 on Sunday (Monday morning NZ time).

It was an epic encounter between two of the greatest tennis players of all-times.

The scene was set for a cliffhanger with a tiebreaker in the first set, won 7-6 by Djokovic.

Federer, 37, fought back imperiously to take the second set, 6-2.

But Djokovic, 32, prevailed 7-6 in the third after another tiebreaker.

Federer broke the Serb's serve in the fourth to win 6-4 and take the tussle to a fifth set decider.

Nishikori capitalised on a sloppy first set from the 20-time major champion to take the initiative on Wednesday, but normal service was resumed as the second seed triumphed 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-4.

It was another landmark day for the Swiss, who is the first man to claim a century of singles wins at a grand slam event.

Nadal will take on old foe Rafael Nadal, who defeated Sam Querrey in straight sets, in the last four after striking 55 winners and 12 aces in another imperious Centre Court display.

Confirmation came from tournament organisers on Wednesday, after Nadal had pre-empted their announcement by speaking out to express his dissatisfaction at the move.

For the grass-court grand slam that starts next Monday, eight-time champion Federer will be the second seed and two-time winner Nadal the third seed, reversing their positions in the ATP standings.

Wimbledon formulates its men's singles seedings based on world rankings and grass-court results over the last two years, and on the latter basis Federer has a better record than the Spaniard.