A fired-up Kei Nishikori propelled Japan to a doubles win over Canada in their Davis Cup world group first round tie on Saturday to give the home side a 2-1 lead over last year's semi-finalists.

Japan will now be expected to claim a quarter-final place for the first time since the 16-nation elite group format was introduced in 1981.

Tiger Woods' hopes of winning the Dubai Desert Classic for a record-equaling third time were all but quashed on Saturday after he carded a third round of 70.

It was an improved performance compared to the day before for the world number one, but he was left trailing tournament leader Rory McIlory by six strokes and the Northern Irishman had yet to tee off.

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy want to end their career with Olympic figure skating gold in Sochi, the only title missing from the German pair's impressive collection.

Their hopes of going out with a bang hinge on Savchenko's frail health and the perfect execution of a triple axel, a demanding element that sees the petite Savchenko thrown into the air by her partner for three and a half rotations before a hard and tricky landing.

Racing Santander's boycott of a Copa del Rey quarterfinal over unpaid wages caused the third-tier Spanish club to be banned from the domestic cup tournament for one season.

Santander refused to play after taking the field against Real Sociedad on Thursday, with the referee suspending the quarterfinal return leg after one minute.

Real Madrid have announced plans for a 400 million-euro ($544 million) redevelopment of their Santiago Bernabeu stadium that will include a retractable roof and a new commercial center encompassing shops, restaurants and a hotel.

German architecture firm GMP Architekten and Catalan company L35 Ribas have been selected for the project, which will transform the Bernabeu into the "best stadium in the world" according to Real president Florentino Perez.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has dismissed his side's chances of winning the Premier League this season no matter what the outcome of their trip to leaders Manchester City on Monday.

Chelsea will head to the Etihad Stadium three points adrift of City, who replaced Arsenal at the summit after crushing Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 at White Hart Lane on Wednesday.

Rory McIlroy endured a frustrating day on the greens at the Dubai Desert Classic on Friday, but he still reached the tournament's halfway stage with a one-stroke lead.

The Ulsterman struggled off the tees early on in his second round, but by the turn he had briefly eased three strokes clear of the field, only for his putting woes and a charge by rising U.S. star Brooks Koepka to keep him in check.

Borussia Dortmund's CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has accused Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich of trying to 'destroy' them by signing their best players.

Bayern paid Dortmund 37 million euros ($50m) for Germany star Mario Goetze last season and Poland striker Robert Lewandowski is set to follow in May.

Manchester City's leading scorer Sergio Aguero is likely to be sidelined for around a month due to a hamstring injury, manager Manuel Pellegrini revealed on Friday.

The Argentina international, who recently missed eight matches with a calf problem, was forced off in the first half of City's 5-1 victory at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso gave the home fans something to cheer about on Friday as he was fastest on the fourth and final morning of pre-season testing in Jerez, southern Spain.

In wet conditions following heavy overnight rain, the Spaniard posted a best time of 1min 35.334secs from 55 laps.