Rafa Nadal made light work of Italian Andreas Seppi to reach the final of the Hamburg Open on Saturday and will now face Fabio Fognini, who is chasing an almost unthinkable third claycourt victory over the Spaniard this season.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova has been handed a wildcard to the Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Birmingham in June.
Rafael Nadal extended his astonishing winning run on clay to 42 consecutive sets as he reached the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Slovakia's Martin Klizan on Friday. The defending champion will face David Goffin on Saturday after the Belgian beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2.
Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko scored a hat-trick as leaders VfL Wolfsburg crushed Hanover 96 5-0 away on Saturday to close in on their first Bundesliga title with one match left. The league's leading striker Grafite added two more for Wolfsburg, who are top with 66 points, two ahead of Bayern Munich who were held to a 2-2 draw at Hoffenheim.
Nick Kyrgios has split with a second coach in a year after deciding to part ways with Todd Larkham just days before the start of Wimbledon.
World number one Dinara Safina came from behind to win an epic contest with Venus Williams 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 on Friday and set up an all-Russian final at the Italian Open in Rome. Safina rallied from a set and 2-0 down to earn the right to face her compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova, who barged past Belarussian Victoria Azarenka with a 6-2, 6-4 win.
The Cottbus meet is part of an eight-event qualifying system for the 2020 Games, under which a gymnast will make the cut based on their best three scores.
Bayern Munich eased into the German Cup semi-finals with a 3-0 victory over 10-man VfL Bochum on Wednesday with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice to keep their treble hopes on track.
The luxury car maker plans to recruit 1,000 people next year; in five years, research staff had jumped from 700 to 3,500.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid were thumped 4-0 away by city rivals Atletico Madrid to open up the Spanish title race, while Chelsea strengthened their hold on top spot in the English Premier League after a 2-1 win at Aston Villa.
Bayern Munich beat VfB Stuttgart 4-1 on Sunday to move 12 points clear in the Bundesliga with only one point required from their last four games to seal a 21st German title. Luca Toni scored his 36th goal in 42 matches in the eighth minute. Antonio da Silva equalised nine minutes later before Mark van Bommel fired in a superb low shot that curled around the wall off an indirect free kick in the 55th minute.
A stunning strike by Romelu Lukaku gave Inter Milan a 2-1 win at Brescia on Tuesday although they had to cling on for three points in the face of heavy pressure from the promoted side.
Spain coach Luis Aragones announced a 23-man squad for next month's World Cup in Germany on Monday.
Formula One runner-up Lewis Hamilton gave McLaren's 2008 car his seal of approval after trying it out for the first time in Spain on Thursday.
Lewis Hamilton expects McLaren to be a far more harmonious team now that Heikki Kovalainen has replaced Fernando Alonso.
Lewis Hamilton celebrated his 23rd birthday on Monday by showing off the car that McLaren hope will take him to the Formula One title as the youngest champion this season.
Barcelona reached the knockout phase of the Champions League with a 2-2 draw at Olympique Lyon on Tuesday. The 2006 champions, who have 11 points from five matches, also secured top place in Group E after Rangers lost 3-2 way to bottom-placed VfB Stuttgart.
Olympique Lyon midfielder Jeremy Toulalan and striker Milan Baros have been left out of the squad to face VfB Stuttgart in a Champions League Group E match on Wednesday.
The Belgian was joined by Svetlana Kuznetsova, Jelena Jankovic and Tatiana Golovin in the semi-finals of the Stuttgart Open.
World number one Justine Henin made a problem-free return to the court on Thursday, beating Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-1 in her first match since winning the US Open.
Serena Williams beat Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine 7-5, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals in Stuttgart.
Compatriot Elena Dementieva added her name to the tournament's lengthy casualty list when she withdrew with a left thigh muscle injury.
The world's top luxury cars cost a fortune. Is it morally defensible to blow that kind of money on a car? We think it is.
With uncertainty hovering over India's participation in next month's Artistic Gymnastic World Championship, top gymnasts Rakesh Patra and Dipa Karmakar feel not taking part in the competition will affect their preparations for the Tokyo Olympics.
Former world number one Novak Djokovic suffered a surprise second-round exit at the Barcelona Open when the Serb was beaten 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 by world number 140 Martin Klizan on Wednesday.
Germany forward Mario Gomez is leaving Turkish champions Besiktas due to the volatile political situation in the country, he said on Wednesday.
Maria Sharapova retired injured from her second round match with Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni at the Italian Open on Tuesday.
Maria Sharapova says she is not looking too far ahead after returning from a doping suspension but concedes she is eager to be competing for the biggest titles in tennis again.
On a day when top seed Sloane Stephens survived a scare before beating Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, Sakkari showcased supreme court coverage skills throughout her almost two-hour match against Bertens.
German football chiefs are not ruling out the involvement of players in the country's match-fixing scandal.
Unbeaten Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich opened up an 11-point gap at the top after goals from Thomas Mueller and Kingsley Coman eased them past Hertha Berlin 2-0 on Saturday, their 13th win in 14 league games.
atni Computer Systems, a global IT services provider, announced on Tuesday the opening up of its new office in Amsterdam. This will be Patni's fifth office in Europe, after Germany (Stuttgart and Munich), Sweden and the UK.
Graham Poll will learn his World Cup fate either later on Friday or on Saturday following his blunder in handing three yellow cards.
Swiss side Thun beat Hamburg SV, while English side Middlesbrough got the better of VfB Stuttgart in the UEFA Cup first leg knock-out round.
'We are all members of a tennis paradise that this year improbably promises to last forever -- and we owe it in no small part to the two champions' parents,' notes Rahul Jacob.
The McLaren driver suggested that whoever he signed for, it would be something of a gamble.
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