Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said striker Diego Costa will start against Liverpool in the Premier League at Anfield on Saturday despite being left out of the Spain squad for this month's international matches because of persistent injuries.
A pumped up Maria Sharapova overcame Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the third round of the LA Championships on Wednesday.
Victoria Azarenka, the 19-year-old from Belarus, thrashed injury-hampered world number one Serena Williams 6-3m 6-1 to win the Sony Ericsson Open on Saturday. The victory, the first top-tier triumph for Azarenka, stopped the American claiming a record sixth title at Key Biscayne.
Mark Cavendish strengthened his grip on the Tour de France sprints when he won the 11th stage Wednesday to equal Barry Hoban's British record of eight victories in the world's greatest race.
What happened on Day 3 of the French Open was more surprising. Two of the top five seeded women exited.
European champions Spain beat Belgium 2-1 while England overcame Belarus 3-1 to maintain their undefeated record in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
Michael Owen was overlooked again on Sunday when England coach Fabio Capello named his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus. Portsmouth forward Peter Crouch and Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips return to the squad for the Group Six fixtures after good form for their clubs.
A round-up of Thursday night's matches from the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
A tortured and tormented Venus Williams whimpered out of the French Open on Friday while a Portuguese teenage upstart made a very noisy departure. Four-times champion Nadal barely broke into a sweat as he overcame potential banana skin Lleyton Hewitt to extend his Paris record to 31-0.
Holder Ana Ivanovic underlined her credentials for a second French Open title with a 6-0, 6-2 demolition of Czech Iveta Benesova in the third round on Friday. The Serbian eighth seed needed just over an hour to set up a meeting with either ninth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus or Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro, seeded 22nd.
Olympian Sumit Sangwan (81kg) and Vikash Malik (60kg) fought through intense bouts to enter the pre-quarterfinals but Mandeep Jangra (69kg) bowed out after a stiff second-round contest on a mixed day for India in the World Boxing Championships in Almaty on Sunday.
Germany defender Nico Schulz scored a late winner as their new-look side snatched a 3-2 win away to the Netherlands in their opening Euro 2020 Group C qualifier on Sunday, an absorbing clash that swung in fortunes from one side to the other.
Netherlands' dream run in the Fed Cup ended agonisingly short of the final when they lost the deciding doubles rubber of a thrilling semi-final against France in Trelaze.
In the crucial ninth game Suarez Navarro seemingly held but Sabalenka challenged an ace at 40-15 and won the discussion.
Sania Mirza and her partner Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei have upset second seeded Spanish pair of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual to enter the women's doubles quarterfinal of the Madrid Open event.
India will fight it out with South Africa to re-claim a berth in the Davis Cup World Group in an away play-off tie in September. India advanced to the play-off stage after Australia forfeited the Asia/Oceania Group I tie, to be held in Chennai, due to security concerns.
Serena, a six-times champion in New York who is seeded 17th, will start her campaign against Polish world number 60 Magda Linette and could face Venus in the third round before a possible fourth-round showdown with Romanian top seed Halep.
Images from the action on Day 2 at the Australian Open.
Americans Bob and Mike Bryan beat Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram 7-6, 6-3 on Sunday to win the doubles title at the ATP World Tour Finals and regain the end-of-season number one ranking.
Thirty-two countries, ranging from Finland and Sweden to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Macedonia and Kazakhstan, have declared interest in hosting matches at Euro 2020 which will be staged across the continent.
Belarus midfielder Aleksandr Hleb signed a four-year contract with Barcelona to complete his move from Arsenal, the Spanish Primera Liga club said on Wednesday. The 27-year-old, a long-term target for Barcelona, flew to Spain on Wednesday to take his medical, arriving just after the club had agreed to sell Brazilian Ronaldinho to AC Milan.
Champion Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Russian Vera Zvonareva completed crushing victories on Friday to set up a title clash in the final of the WTA event at Indian Wells. Top seed Ivanovic pummelled 17-year-old Russian Anastasia Pavyluchenkova 6-2, 6-3 in the evening semi-final after fourth-seeded Zvonareva had swept aside her doubles partner Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 6-3.
Vinesh wins bronze, Pooja in line for second medal
England defender Rio Ferdinand said the national team set-up was like a circus until the arrival of Italian Fabio Capello as manager.
Jelena Jankovic won a fierce scrap with Venus Williams 6-7, 7-5, 6-2 on Saturday to set up a Stuttgart Grand Prix final against Nadia Petrova. Unseeded Russian Petrova's 6-4, 6-4 victory over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the opening semi-final was straightforward by comparison.
Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza posted first-round victories on opening day of the US Open to become the first man and woman from India to reach the second round of the same grand slam event.
Top ranked women's doubles pair Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza had their 41-match winning streak halted on Thursday after they were beaten in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open.
Osaka survives test to reach last 16
Russia's Nadia Petrova muscled her way into the final of the Stuttgart Grand Prix with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus on Saturday.
Serena Williams will be 'ready to go' when she returns to action this week in the United States' Fed Cup first round tie against the Netherlands, captain Kathy Rinaldi said on Wednesday.
Newcomers BATE Borisov got away lightly with a 2-0 defeat against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in their Champions League debut in Group H on Wednesday. Sergio Ramos gave the nine-times European champions an early lead and they threatened an avalanche of goals but BATE held firm until early in the second half. Ruud van Nistelrooy doubled the advantage with his 54th goal in the competition.
Coco Vandeweghe thrives on team play and said on Wednesday she hopes to cap a breakthrough season by leading the United States to victory over Belarus in this weekend's Fed Cup final.
Second seed Jelena Jankovic came through another bruising battle at the U.S. Open on Friday, edging past Zheng Jie 7-5 7-5 to reach the fourth round. The Serbian, chasing her first grand slam title, scrambled into the last 16 after two hours nine minutes and will meet 14th seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus or Caroline Wozniacki, the Danish 21st seed.
The seventh seeds beat Tatiana Poutchek and Anastasia Rodionova 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 to enter the doubles quarterfinals at Indian Wells.
The Indian bounced back to joint lead after splitting a point with Eduard Gorovykh of Russia in the ninth round.
Former world number one Lindsay Davenport claimed her 55th career title by cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over teenager Olga Govortsova of Belarus in the Memphis Championship on Saturday. The 31-year-old fourth seed needed just 60 minutes to beat the fifth-seeded Govortsova in their first career meeting.
Top-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic withdrew from the Qatar Open on Thursday after injuring her left ankle beating Olga Govortsova of Belarus the previous day.
Kyrgios did not face a single break point and hit 18 aces, including two to close out the final.
Israel's Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram won their first grand slam title with a 7-5, 7-6 victory over Frenchmen Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra in the Australian Open men's doubles final on Saturday.
Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko came from a set down to win their first women's doubles title at the Australian Open.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances