Maria Sharapova will be back in the US Open spotlight on Wednesday hoping she can come up with a winning encore to her electrifying first round victory over second seed Simona Halep.

However, the 30-year-old Russia belied her own self-doubt with an impressive three-set win over the Romanian to thrust the former world number one back into the spotlight as the toast of the Big Apple.

'I am not a supporter of complete freedom of speech or expression on any social platform, but we must have the right to choose as adults in a personal space.'

'I have always been told 'thoda sa aur, thoda sa aur.' 'That's why I was always hamming.'

The hits and misses of the week.

Akshay Kumar's success rate continues.

A day after celebrating his 36th birthday, Federer played the aggressive game that has propelled him to five titles, including two grand slams, this year, attacking the net and rocketing second serves.

Vinod Mirani gives us his weekly verdict.

'I feel like I'm rested enough. I've had... not the toughest matches. I can look at this quarter-final (on Wednesday against Milos Raonic) in a totally relaxed fashion'

He paid for losing the first two sets 6-3 6-4 and while he hit back impressively to win the next two by the same margin, he was unable to complete what would have been only his fourth recovery from two sets down. 'I played well for moments, but I was a lot of times fighting against the score, too many times in the fifth'

Sukanya Verma's super-filmi week was high on drama.

Homecoming fuses the kinky-swiftness of the original superhero movies with the silly concerns of a 2017's teenager, points out Sreehari Nair.

'Today, the world has changed. You have to be very persistent. You need to have a talent that is your 'X' factor -- be it in any field.' Aarambh actor Rajniesh Duggal tells us what his 'X' factor is.

Joker, Thithi, Maheshinte Prathikaram and Pelli Choopulu bag the big awards of the night!

Riteish Deshmukh on movies, Genelia and what he'd like to teach his sons.

Anushka Sharma looks totally unrecognisable in her new film, Pari.

Khiladi turns 25!

The Indian badminton team sealed a place in the knockout stage of the Sudirman Cup mixed team championship, despite Indonesia pulling off a stunning 3-2 victory over Denmark in the last match of the Group 1D in Gold Coast, Australia, on Wednesday.

The Mercedes driver's 55th career win was hard-fought and tense, however, with Ferrari's Vettel seizing the lead at the start and in the hunt all the way to the finish as the tyre strategies played out.

Eugenie Bouchard pulled off her first win over Maria Sharapova with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 triumph in the Madrid Open on Monday in a thrilling contest full of tension after the Canadian had called the Russian a cheater following her doping ban.

'My first film put me in the spotlight as a commercial heroine. After that, I kept getting such films and I enjoyed them. Whatever I have learnt, I have learnt on the job through these films. I have also made mistakes like everyone but I have learnt from them and moved on.' Sonakshi Sinha gets us ready for Noor.

'In Udaan and in Lootera, the initial sensations that drove Vikramaditya Motwane to make those pictures never quite travelled beyond the walls that contained them.' 'Here, in Trapped, this sensations-strangled-by-the-walls feeling becomes the movie's real tune,' says Sreehari Nair.

Rafael Nadal, who lost all four of his previous Miami Open finals, will be out to snap a run of three straight defeats against Roger Federer.

'At the end of the day, stars are actors.' 'They love performing. And the more challenges I feel that you end up giving stars on the sets, the happier they are.'

'We believe in the people of our country. No matter how modern they become, they will not forget their culture and emotions. If you write about the emotions and culture, people will like it and relate to it.' Abbas-Mustan return with Machine.

The hits and misses of the week.

A round-up of Vijay Hazare Trophy matches played across the country on Saturday.

There's unintended hilarity and very little combat to justify the existence of a sequel, feels Sukanya Verma.

Manchester City came out on top in an epic Champions League battle against Monaco as late goals by John Stones and Leroy Sane secured a 5-3 victory in a last 16 first-leg thriller on Tuesday that had goals galore and a missed penalty.

All you have to do is answer a simple question!

Arshad Warsi is as candid as they come.

Take this fun poll now!

Hrithik Roshan has played challenging roles before and nailed them to perfection. This time too, he doesn't disappoint, says Namrata Thakker.

Arsenal snatched a dramatic 2-1 victory over Burnley to keep their title hopes on track after the referee Jon Moss awarded penalties to both sides and sent off home manager Arsene Wenger in injury time.

That US is losing one of its best-read presidents, and will gain one of the least likely to have ever read a book. Does that matter? Mihir S Sharma explains why it should.

Images from all the action on Day 3 at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday

There's a lot happening in Bollywood, Hollywood and world cinema this year.

Which one are you looking forward to?

We look at 52 of them, spread over 52 Fridays, in a two-part special. Here's the first part.

Visaranai clearly tops the list.