Venus Williams bravely battled through a painful injury to reach the Australian Open's third round as Spain's Fernando Verdasco survived a trademark five-set thriller.

Women's world number one Caroline Wozniacki finally hit form on Wednesday and American Andy

China's Li Na upset two-time champion Kim Clijsters to win the Sydney International title and her fourth career WTA crown on Friday.

Eighth seed Li recovered from going behind 0-5 in the opening set to rally for a convincing 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 victory in 1hr 30min.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will play an exhibition match on Sunday ahead of the Australian Open to raise funds for the country's flood victims.

Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Kim Clijsters will join Lleyton Hewitt in a "Rally for Relief" match at Rod Laver Arena. Also participating will be Sam Stosur and retired star Pat Rafter, who both come from the affected state of Queensland.

Saudi Arabia face Jordan on Thursday at the Asian Cup under a new coach following Jose Peseiro's dismissal after just one game at the tournament, but the new man warned he doesn't have a magic wand.

The Saudis' quest for a fourth Asian Cup title lay in tatters after their embarrassing 2-1 Group B defeat to unfancied Syria in their opening game, with Portuguese Peseiro sacked immediately afterwards.

Bahrain coach Salman Sharida pleaded for patience from the team's supporters after seeing his side beaten 2-1 by South Korea in their opening Group C game at the Asian Cup.

A brace from midfielder Koo Ja-Cheol set South Korea on course for what looked like a routine victory, but Faouzi Aaish pulled a goal back from the penalty spot in the 85th minute to leave the Koreans hanging on.

Saudi Arabia's quest for a fourth Asian Cup lay in tatters on Monday after they sacked beleaguered coach Jose Peseiro in the wake of an embarrassing 2-1 defeat to Syria in their opening game.

The Portuguese, a former assistant to Carlos Queiroz at Real Madrid, had been under intense pressure after he failed to get Saudi Arabia to last year's World Cup.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said for the first time on Friday that he 'expects' the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to be held in winter rather than the traditional summer months of June and July.

Qatar was controversially awarded the right to host the tournament last month despite summer temperatures in the Gulf emirate soaring to over 40 degrees Celsius.

A stomach injury to Serbia's Ana Ivanovic has handed Belgium a place in the mixed-teams Hopman Cup final on Saturday.

The Serbian pairing of Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic were top seeds and topped Group A by winning two of their three round-robin ties, with Belgian duo Justine Henin and Ruben Bemelmans second despite beating the Serbs on Thursday.

With Arjen Robben set to return from injury, Bayern Munich officials can't wait for the Bundesliga and Champions League to resume after Germany's winter break.

Robben hasn't played since the Netherlands' World Cup final loss to Spain because of a hamstring injury, but is back in training at a camp in Qatar and is expected to play in the team's friendly against local club Al-Wakrah on Saturday.

Jordan's Prince Ali bin Al Hussein stunned powerful South Korean Chung Mong-Joon by unseating him as a FIFA vice-president on Thursday while Mohammed bin Hammam won another term as AFC chief.

Chung, the controlling shareholder in industrial giant Hyundai Heavy Industries, a major FIFA sponsor, had been in the job since 1994 and was widely expected to retain the role.