London: Chelsea defend a narrow first-leg lead over Benfica in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, knowing that winning the title for the first time may be their only chance of securing a place in next year's competition. The Blues are five points behind a qualifying spot with only seven games left in England's Premier League, so players are well aware of the importance of not letting slip a 1-0...
06:35 PM, Apr 03, 2012
Key Biscayne: Novak Djokovic may not be able to match last year's sensational 41-match winning streak, but the world number one believes he is in just as good form heading into the clay court season. The Serb successfully defended his Sony Ericsson Open title with a 6-1, 7-6 win over Britain's Andy Murray in Sunday's final at the Miami Masters Series event where he never dropped a set during the...
12:45 PM, Apr 02, 2012
Key Biscayne, Fla.: Two boys stood on the top row of the stadium, beautiful Biscayne Bay at their back and the world's best tennis player down below, as they waved a sign in his support. "Djokovic in the house," it read. From the youngsters' remote perch, Novak Djokovic looked like a tiny figure, yet he still loomed large. The top-ranked Djokovic won his third Sony Ericsson Open title on Sunday,...
08:52 AM, Apr 02, 2012
London: Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo has accused the FA of lacking common sense after its decision to play the FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur late on a Sunday, days before a possible Champions League semi against Barcelona or AC Milan. The tie on April 15 at Wembley will kick off at 6pm local time, giving the club precious little time to prepare for Wednesday's first leg of a...
02:14 PM, Mar 31, 2012
Key Biscayne, Fla.: A marathon second set was all even in a tie-breaker on Friday night when Novak Djokovic found himself involved in yet another grueling point. He hit 13 shots, all smacked aggressively from the backcourt, many landing within a foot or two of the baseline at the far end. Finally Djokovic's dogged opponent cracked. Juan Monaco sailed a weary forehand long, and moments later the top-ranked Djokovic clinched...
10:44 AM, Mar 31, 2012
London: A new photo of Fabrice Muamba appeared on the midfielder's Twitter account on Friday showing him sitting up and smiling, almost two weeks after his heart stopped beating and he collapsed during the FA Cup quarter-finals. The first photo of Muamba since his cardiac arrest showed the usually clean-shaven Bolton player bearded, fully dressed and seated with a pillow for support. An accompanying message said: "Fab wanted me to...
07:52 PM, Mar 30, 2012
Miami: India's Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek pulled off an amazing victory over top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan to secure their berth in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open. However, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna crashed out of the tournament in straight sets on Thursday. Paes is one win away from a third consecutive Sony Ericsson Open doubles title - with three different partners...
02:19 PM, Mar 30, 2012
Barcelona: Barcelona have filed a complaint to UEFA about the state of the San Siro pitch after their 0-0 draw with AC Milan in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. The defending champions filed the complaint late on Wednesday after the match in which their players lost their footing and kicked up clumps of turf from the ground. After Wednesday's match, coach Pep Guardiola complained about the pitch,...
07:26 PM, Mar 29, 2012
Milan: Great teams are above complaining, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said as he tried to avoid criticising a dreadful San Siro pitch and controversial refereeing during his team's 0-0 Champions League quarter-final first leg draw with AC Milan on Wednesday. "To win the Champions League, you have to overcome a lot of things, that's what makes some sportsmen better than others," Guardiola told reporters. "Things happen and you have to...
05:11 PM, Mar 29, 2012
New Delhi: Defending champion Saina Nehwal reached her second consecutive final of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold with a straight-game victory over Japan's Minatsu Mitani in the semi-finals in Basel, Switzerland. The Indian ace registered a 21-16 21-18 triumph over Mitani in 35 minutes to set up a summit clash with second seed Shixian Wang. The world number three Chinese beat eighth seed Inthanon Ratchanok of Thailand 21-17 21-15...
04:06 PM, Mar 18, 2012
Indian Wells: Roger Federer overcame Rafael Nadal and the rain for a 6-3, 6-4 semi-final victory in the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday night, acing Nadal on a match point that was delayed a couple minutes by rain drops. Federer handled the cold, windy conditions better than Nadal, whose grumpy expression matched his out-of-sorts body language. The match got started nearly three hours late because of rain. Wind whipped the...
10:34 AM, Mar 18, 2012
Indian Wells, California: John Isner fired 20 aces, including one at 135-mph on his fourth match point, to beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7), 3-6, 7-6 (5) in the BNP Paribas Open semi-finals on Saturday. Isner will play No. 3 Roger Federer in Sunday's final. Federer overcame Rafael Nadal and the rain for a 6-3, 6-4 semi-final victory, acing Nadal on a match point that was delayed a couple minutes...
10:28 AM, Mar 18, 2012
London: Chelsea's return to form since the sacking of Portuguese Andre Villas-Boas is down to the players rediscovering their passion for the game, interim manager Roberto Di Matteo said on Friday. The Italian has overseen three consecutive wins since Villas-Boas was axed, culminating in the enthralling 5-4 aggregate victory over Napoli on Wednesday that earned the Londoners a Champions League quarter-final against Benfica. The games are coming thick and fast...
04:07 PM, Mar 17, 2012
Barcelona: Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola claims that he is not even thinking about the prospect of a Champions League final clash with rivals Real Madrid, insisting that his sole concern is on getting past quarter-final opponents AC Milan. Friday's draw in Nyon has thrown up the possibility of the Spanish rivals meeting in the tournament decider at the Allianz Arena in May, a development which has generated great excitement within...
02:09 PM, Mar 17, 2012
Kathmandu: Tournament favourites DPR Korea easily disposed off Palestine 2-0 in the second semi-final of the AFC Challenge Cup on Friday after Turkmenistan had already booked a final berth as well. Pak Kwang-ryong's brace, with goals in the 41st minute and the 69th minute, gave the defending champions an easy win against Group A runners-up Palestine. DPR Korea's defence was strong once again too, as they maintained a perfect record...
01:40 PM, Mar 17, 2012
Nyon: Athletic Bilbao were rewarded for eliminating Manchester United in the Europa League by being drawn on Friday to play Schalke in the quarter-finals. "It was a fiesta for us," Bilbao secretary Javier Aldazabal said of the Basque club's impressive 2-1 win on Thursday, following a 3-2 upset of the English champions at Old Trafford. "To be in the European last-eight, it's a surprise but we are enjoying it." Atletico...
12:39 PM, Mar 17, 2012
Indian Wells, California: Rafael Nadal outlasted David Nalbandian 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the BNP Paribas Open on Friday, setting up a semi-final against Roger Federer that will be a rematch of their Australian Open semi-final. Federer had an easier time in his quarter-final, beating Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-2 in just more than an hour for his fourth victory over the Argentine this year. Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka defeated Angelique...
10:41 AM, Mar 17, 2012
Melbourne: McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in Saturday's final practice for Formula One's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, as two of the sport's biggest stars had session-ending spins. Hamilton edged Lotus' Romain Grosjean by just eight hundredths of a second in the pre-qualifying session, with Red Bull's Mark Webber third fastest and McLaren's Jenson Button fourth. Webber's teammate and reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel had his session cut...
10:33 AM, Mar 17, 2012
Nyon, Switzerland: Barcelona and Real Madrid were kept apart in the Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals draw on Friday, though the defending champions must first beat AC Milan before the Spanish giants can hope to meet in a potentially stellar final. Barcelona will travel for the first leg against seven-time winners Milan, in a quarter-finals clash that reunites the two European powers after they met in the group stages. Madrid,...
04:58 PM, Mar 16, 2012
Indian Wells: Comfortably the best player in the world for more than a year, Novak Djokovic believes he is close to the stunning form he produced to launch his 2011 campaign with a 41-0 record. The top-ranked Serbian has clinched four of the last five Grand Slams and stayed on track for a third Indian Wells title after beating Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-0, 6-7, 6-2 in the fourth round on...
03:36 PM, Mar 15, 2012
