Unseeded Argentine David Nalbandian inflicted a shock 6-1, 6-2 defeat on world number two Rafael Nadal in the Madrid Masters on Friday to earn a semi-final showdown with young Serb Novak Djokovic.
Substitute Javier Saviola scored a late equaliser for champions Real Madrid as they could only draw 1-1 at promoted Valladolid in the Primera Liga.
Barcelona reached the semi-finals of the King's Cup after a Thierry Henry earned them a 1-0 victory over 10-man Villarreal.
Stan Wawrinka reached his second final of the season as Nick Kyrgios retired injured from their semi-final at the ATP Dubai Championships on Friday. The Australian quit due to back pain while trailing 6-4, 3-0, having had on-court treatment after the seventh game of the opening set. Wawrinka now moves into position for a possible second trophy of the season after winning in Chennai to start the year. The French Open champion will face either sixth seed Feliciano Lopez, who advanced in the quarter-finals when Novak Djokovic was unable to continue due to an eye infections or former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis. Wawrinka, ranked fourth, carries an enviable record into the Saturday title match at the Aviation Club, having won his last eight finals.
The 77th Annual Golden Globe awards have been announced. There were a few surprises and some expected nods. A quick glance at the winners, listed in bold.
Parimarjan Negi beat Dennis Rujigrok of Holland to jump to joint second place in the 'C' group at the Corus International chess tournaments.
Ronaldo's replacement Dybala scored in the 77th minute with a goal the Portuguese would have been proud of. After a quick exchange of passes, the Argentine twisted past Alessio Romagnoli and beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a right foot shot.
Top seed Nadal beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-2 while Moya overcame Frenchman Florent Serra 6-3, 6-4.
In his place, Tommy Robredo has been called up alongside David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco.
The Indian ace avenged the Chess 960 final defeat by beating the Armenian on the first day in the second game of the World Rapid Championship.
India squandered their hard-earned lead on two occasions as they slumped to their second successive defeat losing 2-4 to World Cup bronze medallists Argentina.
India's Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam Qureshi crashed out of the US Open after going down fighting in the men's doubles first round contest at the Flushing Meadows in New York.
Cristiano Ronaldo continued his rich vein of form by scoring twice in Real Madrid's 2-1 home win over struggling Sporting Gijon on Saturday, although the La Liga leaders got a lucky break when the visitors squandered a second-half penalty.
The England captain has been left out because of a rib injury.
The Indian ace outplayed Germany's Arkadij Naiditch for his first win at the Sparkassen Super Grandmasters Chess tournament.
Meanwhile, Mahesh Bhupathi and Radek Stepanek from the Czech Republic advanced to the third round, beating Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Filippo Volandri of Italy.
If reports are true then it's going to be double joy for Jennifer Lopez, for she's said to be expecting twins with hubby Marc Anthony.
Sunita, who arrived at the station with the STS-116 mission, replaced European Space Agency Astronaut Thomas Reiter on the Expedition 14 crew at midnight on December 12.
World No 1 Viswanathan Anand won the World Chess Championship after a quick draw against Hungarian Peter Leko in the 14th and final round.
Serbian teenager Novak Djokovic beat Spanish qualifier Santiago Ventura 6-2, 6-2 to enter the quarterfinals.
World rapid champion Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw with world No 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the ninth round of the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk Aan Zee, the Netherlands. Settling for his sixth draw in nine games, Anand took his tally to five points and remains joint-sixth in the 14 players, 13-round tournament.
Continuing his dream run, Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta held higher-ranked compatriot Pentala Harikrishna to a draw, while Viswanathan Anand kept himself in contention with an easy victory, in the sixth round of the masters section of the Tradewise Gibraltar International Chess Festival in Gibraltar, on Monday.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand sealed the Candidates tournament title with an effortless draw with Peter Svidler of Russia in the 14th and final round in Khanty Mansiysk.
NASA officials are now looking at ways to make her stay in space easier, given the additional physical and psychological pressures.
Viswanathan Anand took sole lead after ten rounds of the Morelia Linares Super Grandmasters chess tournament.
The second semi-final at the Las Vegas Open will be between Russian Evgeny Korolev and Austrian fourth seed Juergen Melzer.
Total spacewalking time for Sunday's walk was 7 hours, 11 minutes. And, now they are all set to enjoy the spectacular Super Bowl football game between the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts.
The first of a record four spacewalks planned during the next month is scheduled to begin 0900 hours CST (2030 hours IST) on Wednesday.
New world number one Ashleigh Barty has suffered a pre-Wimbledon injury scare, withdrawn from this week's Eastbourne grasscourt tournament with a recurrence of a right arm injury.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Top seed Andy Roddick beat Mardy in the quarter-finals of the San Jose Open but James Blake lost to Robby Ginepri.
Presenting the celebs who made headlines this year with their provocative outfits! Tell us who stunned you the most.
Barcelona turned on the style to pull three points clear at the top of the Primera Liga with a 2-1 win over Deportivo Coruna on Saturday.
Rafael Nadal said he was sad to have squandered an opportunity to do something special at the US Open with his fourth-round loss at Flushing Meadows, but happy with his effort and prospects going forward this season.
All the action from the recently concluded popular choice awards.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances