Szczesny revels in derby success

Yesterday's 5-2 win over local rivals Tottenham Hotspur was as good as beating Barcelona according to Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who said the win was one of the best feelings of his career.

Porto edge ahead in Portugal

Porto moved ahead of Benfica on goal difference at the top with a 2-0 win at home to struggling Feirense, while Sporting Lisbon moved up to fourth with a 1-0 home win over Rio Ave.

Lahm out, Bender a doubt for friendly

Germany captain Philipp Lahm has been ruled out of the national team's friendly against France on Wednesday with a knee problem, while Sven Bender is a doubt after suffering a suspected broken nose.

Milan, Barcelona within reach of quarters

This week's UEFA Champions League action sees AC Milan and champions Barcelona with one foot already in the last eight, while the ties between Zenit St Petersburg and Benfica, and Lyon and APOEL, are far more evenly poised.

Lahm out, Bender a doubt for friendly

Germany captain Philipp Lahm has been ruled out of the national team's friendly against France on Wednesday with a knee problem, while Sven Bender is a doubt after suffering a suspected broken nose.

F1 Timeline – A social week in #F1

In recent years, it’s clear to say Formula One has become more accessible for the fans, and it’s all thanks to social media. With all the teams on Twitter, some using it better than others, and with the majority of drivers embracing it, the fans have got closer to the sport for the first time

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Five-star Real brush aside Espanyol

Real Madrid claimed a comprehensive 5-0 win over Espanyol, condemning their opponents to a third defeat in four games with Gonzalo Higuain on target twice and Cristiano Ronaldo, Sami Khedira, and Kaka netting the others.

Leading duo claim wins

Anderlecht maintained their eight-point lead at the Jupiler Pro League summit with an emphatic 4-0 win over Cercle Brugge, while Club Brugge kept up their chase in second with a 1-0 win over Standard Liege.

United stun Spurs at White Hart Lane

Manchester United bagged a vital three points in their pursuit of leaders City as they defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at White Hart Lane with Wayne Rooney opening the scoring before Ashley Young hit a brace.

Boca top as three see red

Boca Juniors retained their share of top spot with a 2-0 win at San Lorenzo in a bad-tempered match which saw three sent off, while Tigre kept pace thanks to a 1-0 win over Lanus.

Ferguson: City derby will likely decide title

With Manchester United coming through their latest test with flying colours - a hard-fought 3-1 win at Tottenham - Sir Alex Ferguson says the title race will likely be decided by next month's visit to leaders Manchester City.

Anderson Beats Matosevic For Delray Beach Crown

Seventh seed Kevin Anderson defeated qualifier Marinko Matosevic 6-4, 7-6(2) at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships Sunday to win his second career title.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

Federer Surpasses 10m Facebook Fans; Nadal Right Behind

World No. 3 Roger Federer won his fifth Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships this week, but that’s not the only success the Swiss achieved. During the tournament, Federer surpassed 10 million fans on his Facebook page.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

Maritimo slip up, Rio Ave boost hopes

Maritimo missed their chance to move back into the top four in Portugal after a 1-0 loss to Guimaraes, while Rio Ave cruised to a 4-0 victory over Beira Mar, and Pacos Ferreira defeated Gil Vicente 2-1.

HRT to debut 2012 car on Monday

Having narrowly failed to ready their new car in time for the final day of pre-season testing, HRT will now debut the F112 at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya on Monday. Narain Karthikeyan will be at the wheel for the promotional filming day to put the first few kilometres on the Spanish team's 2012 machine, which will only be permitted to run on promo-spec tyres

Azarenka says Radwanska is still a friend

Victoria Azarenka tell the Sunday Times (London) that she has not spoken to Agnieszka Radwanska since the Pole alleged that the No. 1 feigned an ankle injury during her victory over her in the Doha semifinals. The two run in the same social circles as they are both close to Caroline Wozniacki. "I still see her as a friend, but what could I do?" Azarenka asked. "I wouldn't have pulled out if I wasn't hurting. I don't believe in making comments about opponents. There are so many people on this planet that there are bound to be conflicting opinions and there's nothing more that can be said."

Fleming/Hutchins Save MP To Win Delray Beach Trophy

Third seeds Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins battled past Michal Mertinak and Andre Sa 2-6, 7-6(5), 15-13 in the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships final Sunday, saving two match points to win their first title of the season.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

Azarenka says Radwanska still a friend

Victoria Azarenka tell the Sunday Times (London) that she has not spoken to Agnieszka Radwanska since the Pole alleged that the No. 1 feigned an ankle injury during her victory over her in the semis of Doha. The two run in the same social circles as they are both close to Caroline Wozniacki. "I still see her as a friend, but what could I do?" Azarenka asked. "I wouldn't have pulled out if I wasn't hurting. I don't believe in making comments about opponents. There are so many people on this planet that there are bound to be conflicting opinions and there's nothing more that can be said."

Sunday Briefing - Delray Beach

Media notes for the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships.

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Driver quotes: Day 4 at Barcelona

BARCELONA PRE-SEASON TESTING CIRCUIT DE CATALUNYA  DAY 4 DRIVER QUOTES  04 MARCH 2012 Red Bull Racing  Sebastian Vettel “I’d love to be able to say more about today, but this morning I had an issue, I went off track and broke the front wing and had to come in. It took quite a while to

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Murray: Fed could retake No. 1 on quick courts

Andy Murray, who fell to Roger Federer in the Dubai final, says that the 30-year-old could recapture the top spot if more tournaments were held on faster surfaces. Federer has won five tournaments since late October. Four of those tiles were indoors (2011 Basel, the Paris Masters, the ATP Finals and 2012 Rotterdam) and 2012 Dubai was outdoors.

"If there was more tournaments on these courts, I think he could definitely be No. 1 in the world for the next few years," Murray told reporters. "It really suits his game well. Just so many of the courts are so slow now. It’s nice for us to get a change-up like here. Some of the tournaments are so slow it's tough against so many guys that are moving well and serving big. It’s become tougher and tougher to stay at the top of the game longer."

Federer still smarts over '02 Dubai criticism

Roger Federer still seems perturbed that his commitment to the tournament in Dubai was questioned back in 2002, when Rainier Schuettler beat him 6-3, 6-1. Federer has won five titles in Dubai and reached the final on seven occasions. "This has been one of the tournaments I had a rocky start to - Dubai," Federer told reporters. "I was criticized for not giving the best effort when I lost to Schuettler. That was tough for me because I was in the second round in singles and doubles.  So for people to question me was not very nice.  I know the last two games weren't beautiful, but, you know, it's a quick court and quickly can look in a way that you're not interested. Rainier was better in that match.  For me to then come back the following year and win the tournament and win so often now is a beautiful thing."

Twente, Ajax put pressure on AZ

Twente ran out to a convincing 6-2 win over PSV Eindhoven to leapfrog their opponents up to second in the Eredivisie standings, while Ajax also made their title ambitions clear with a 4-1 defeat of Roda JC.

Barcelona day four - Raikkonen ends on a high

The final pre-season test of 2012 concluded in Spain on Sunday, with Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen setting the pace. Less than half a second covered the top six at the Circuit de Catalunya, with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso second and Williams' Bruno Senna third. Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton were next up, with world champion Sebastian Vettel last in the timesheets after gearbox problems on his Red Bull

Barcelona Test II Recap: Lotus, Raikkonen bounce back to lead the way to Australia

Kimi Raikkonen (1:22.030) set the fastest time of the four days of testing while teammate Romain Grosjean led two other days, giving Lotus a head of steam coming out of the final winter test session. Sergio Perez took the other headline honors with his fast lap on Saturday. Winter testing in 2012 was again completed

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#F1Chat Preview – the final test

When the F1 teams packed up and left Brazil at the end of the 2011 season, the road to the start of the 2012 season was long. But here we are, the final test finished and just 2 weeks until the first race in Melbourne. That’s two weeks – the same gap of time that

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Federer beats Murray for fifth Dubai title

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)â€"Roger Federer beat Andy Murray 7-5, 6-4 Saturday to win his fifth Dubai Championships title.

The second-seeded Federer didn’t drop a set all week and was rarely threatened by the third-seeded Murray, who was coming off his semifinal win against top-ranked Novak Djokovic. The win was Federer’s fifth title in seven tournaments and his 72nd overall. He also won two weeks ago in Rotterdam.

“This is perfect. This is great. Any title is a good one, I’ll tell you that,” Federer said. “I have a losing record against Murray, I do believe, and not against Novak … I don’t want to say (beating Murray) means more to me but it’s a beautiful victory.”

The 16-time Grand Slam champion kept Murray off balance much of the match, outplaying the 24-year-old from Scotland with a mix of powerful groundstrokes, drop shots and the occasional serve-and-volley.

Federer saved two break points when down 3-2 in the first set at the Aviation Club. He saved the first when Murray hit a forehand long and won the second with a backhand volley.

Federer broke Murray to go up 6-5 and took the first set when Murray hit a forehand wide.

The two players traded breaks early in the second set before Federer broke decisively to make it 5-4. Murray saved one match point before the Swiss star hit a forehand winner into the corner.

“The match was close I think in both sets, I just gave myself more opportunities than Andy did overall,” said Federer, who used the fast surface to his advantage.

Murray struggled much of the night with his backhand and his serve also let him down. He won 85 percent of his first service points against Djokovic, but only 48 percent against Federer.

“For sure I made a few too many mistakes in the second, and he was playing a lot more aggressive than in the first set,” Murray said. “Sets can come down to just a couple (of) points. You get a lucky shot here or one great shot and you can break the set wide open.”

Murray insisted his win over Djokovic was not on his mind as he took the court against Federer.

“It was a good win yesterday, good win the day before, tough match today,” Murray said. “So I’m just happy with the week, because at this stage last year I was in a very different position, different frame of mind.”

Hsieh becomes first Asian winner of Kuala Lumpur

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)â€"Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei became the first Asian winner of the Malaysian Open on Sunday when her opponent Petra Martic retired with exhaustion after playing both her semifinal and final matches on the same day.

The unseeded Hsieh beat the fifth-seeded Martic 2-6, 7-5, 4-1.

Earlier Sunday, Martic beat second-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5) in a semifinal lasting more than three hours. Rain triggered a suspension of play Saturday at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort.

The Croatian had only a few hours to rest before facing Hsieh. Both were playing a WTA final for the first time.

The 21-year-old Martic won the first set and led the second by 4-2 before she began to significantly tire. She lost the set after appearing to have leg cramps.

Hsieh, 26, led 4-1 in the third set before Martic retired after an hour and 45 minutes.

The tournament has been plagued by rain delays and injuries all week. Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland withdrew Friday because of an elbow injury.

Tavo Hellmund files suit against COTA investors

Building a state-of-the-art racing circuit is difficult enough without infighting and lawsuits but that is just the latest challenge the Circuit of the Americas(COTA) nows faces as the once-head-figure of the project, Tavo Hellmund and his Full throttle Productions, has now filed a lawsuit against the circuit. It seems that Mr. Hellmund has filed a

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Gala extend lead, Trabz slip up

Galatasary moved nine points clear at the Turkish Super Lig summit with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Besiktas, while Trabzonspor were surprisingly on the reverse end of the same scoreline against Mersin Idmanyurdu.

Ford wins race 2 at Clipsal 500

Will Davison drove the race of his life to end a dry spell of 2 years to win his first ever SUPERCARS race. Yesterday it was taken from underneath him as he ran out of fuel on the last corner only to roll past the finish line in second place The Tradingpost Ford driver was

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Stoke bounce back with Swansea win

Matthew Upson and Peter Crouch both scored before the break to help Stoke City to a 2-0 victory over Swansea City, ending a four-game losing run in the Premier League for the Potters.

Ribery double bags Bayern victory

Franck Ribery bagged a brace as Bayern Munich rebounded from their UEFA Champions League loss to Basel in midweek with a 2-0 win over Schalke to climb back into second in the Bundesliga.

Ferrer defends Acapulco championship

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP)â€"Top-seeded David Ferrer captured his third straight title at the Mexican Open on Saturday, beating fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-2 in the final.

Ferrer broke Verdasco twice in each set to wrap up the match in just over an hour.

“As Fernando hits so hard, I knew I had to be solid and counter him and I think I did it very well, especially at the beginning,” Ferrer said. “I also know Fernando didn’t play his best tennis today but that’s tennis. You have good days and sometimes bad days.”

The sixth-ranked Ferrer won his second clay-court title in as many weeks, following his victory last Sunday at the Copa Claro event in Buenos Aires.

Ferrer also won the Heineken Open title in Auckland to open the season. He has an 18-1 record to start 2012, the only loss coming to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Verdasco was aiming for his first title since winning in Barcelona in 2010.

“I am extremely disappointed I wasn’t able to have the fight I was expecting to have,” he said. “I just couldn’t keep the ball in the court today. It’s always tough to lose a final, but losing it that way hurts a lot more.”

In the women’s event, Italy’s Sara Errani defeated compatriot Flavia Pennetta 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-0 to win her third WTA title.

Pennetta captured the first set, which was filled with mistakes. Neither player managed to hold serve in the first seven games, and Errani was able to hold only once in the entire set.

Errani bounced back to win the second set in a tiebreaker, and gained momentum to take the deciding set 6-0 to complete the 2 1/2-hour match.

“It was such a tough final against Flavia,” she said. “It’s never easy playing an Italian but I played really well, especially in the third set.”

Errani also won the doubles title with partner Roberta Vinci, becoming the first player in nearly two years to win the singles and doubles at the same WTA tournament.

Johnson banking on Eastlands dominance

Adam Johnson has said Manchester City's dominance at home will be key to them lifting the Premier League title, with them so far not having dropped a single point at Eastlands this season.

Platini: Germany are EURO favourites

Michel Platini has said he believes Germany are the favourites ahead of the coming European championships, with the French UEFA president believing they will be the ones contending with Spain for the title.

The things they say: Samuel Eto’o

A fiercely strong personality on and off the pitch, FIFA.com has compiled some of the best quotes from Samuel Eto’o, one of the finest strikers in world football today. 

Zetti's labour of love

FIFA.com chats with legendary Brazilian custodian Zetti about his passion for playing between the pipes, his colourful career and the school where he now trains keepers of all ages and skill levels.

Park: Honour to be captain

Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-Sung has revealed his "honour" at being named captain for their UEFA Europa League tie last night, and has now turned his sights to catching Manchester City in the Premier League.

de Villiers' brand of captaincy "taking off"

AB de Villiers, the South Africa limited-overs captain, has said the team has started to respond to his style of captaincy, as was evident from South Africa's 3-0 trouncing of New Zealand in the one-day series

Barça keep chase, Rayo fight back

Barcelona defeated Sporting Gijon 3-1 to keep their slim title hopes alive in La Liga, while Sevilla and Atletico Madrid played out a 1-1 draw, and Rayo Vallecano came from behind to defeat Racing Santander.

AEK fall at Aris, Atromitos push on

AEK Athens fell to a 1-0 defeat at Aris Salonika, missing their chance to move up into the top three, while Atromitos are one point adrift of fourth place after a 2-1 victory over Panionios.

Bhupathi/Bopanna Capture First Title; Marrero/Verdasco Triumph In Acapulco

Fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna captured their first ATP World Tour doubles title together on Saturday with victory in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final. The Indians overcame third-seeded Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 6-4, 3-6, 10-5 in 69 minutes.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

Juve stumble to Chievo draw

Juventus failed to make up ground on Serie A leaders AC Milan as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Chievo after Boukary Drame grabbed an equaliser in response to Paolo De Ceglie's opener.

Anderson defeats Isner in Delray Beach semis

DELRAY BEACH, Florida (AP)â€"South Africa’s Kevin Anderson beat John Isner 7-5, 7-6 (4) on Saturday to advance to the final of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championship.
 
The 36th-ranked Anderson knocked off Isner, the top-seeded American, a day after upsetting Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals.

He’ll face qualifier Marinko Matosevic of Australia in the final on Sunday.
 
Isner was broken once in the first set and then double-faulted away the first point of the second-set tiebreaker against the seventh-seeded Anderson.
 
Isner entered with a 9-1 record in tiebreakers this season.
 
“I’m really excited because I couldn’t have played a better match today,” said Anderson, who won his first career title at Johannesburg last year. “Fortunately for me, John gave me a double in the tiebreak and I held onto my serve all night.”
 
The 173rd-ranked Matosevic needed five match points to close out his 2-hour, 54-minute semifinal match over Israel’s Dudi Sela.
 
“I’m very happy but I’m very tired,” said the Australian, who reached his first career ATP Tour final. “I was just fighting off cramps. … In the humidity I just sweat a lot and cramp. I cramped after my match on Wednesday, too.”
 
Matosevic had two match points on his serve at 5-3 in the third set, but he made four straight errors to lose his game. He finally won on his third match point in the third-set tiebreaker when the 75th-ranked Sela netted a backhand.
 
Sela had won all three previous matches between the two players.
 
“He was leading in the first, second and the third but I thought I played much better except for the important points,” said Sela, who left the court without shaking Matosevic’s hand. “It was a matter of who was more lucky in this kind of match and he was more lucky.”
 
Matosevic said that the two are good friends and he wasn’t bothered that Sela left the court immediately after the match because he was sure the Israeli was upset by the loss.