After a season-opening Formula One weekend to forget in Australia, Pastor Maldonado must be wondering when he might win his second race.

The Venezuelan driver was billed as a rising star after winning in Spain last year to give Williams its first victory since 2004. But everything went wrong after that, from mechanical problems to a collision at the European Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton that cost Maldonado a podium spot.

Missing four of its veteran players, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque could offer a glimpse of what the future holds in store for the world champions when they host Finland on Friday in a World Cup qualifier.

Iker Casillas, Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol and Fernando Torres — all four played key roles in Spain's run to the 2010 World Cup title and a pair of European Championships — will all be missing.

It's been more than six months since Ryan Hunter-Reay became the first American driver in six years to win the IndyCar championship.

Finally, with a new season set to begin, he may finally get some attention for his achievement.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has returned to practice for the first time since breaking his left hand nearly two months ago.

Casillas, who was injured on January 24, will be back in time for the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals against Galatasaray in two weeks.

Phil Neville has joined brother Gary in taking up a coaching role with England after being named in the backroom staff of the country's under-21 side for this summer's European Championship.

The younger Neville has previously worked with the under 21s on a one-off basis, ahead of England's 4-0 qualifying win over Belgium last year.

After winning the PNB Paribas Open last week, Maria Sharapova is aiming for a rare double when she lines at the Sony Open.

Only two players in WTA history have won back-to-back Indian Wells and Key Biscayne titles: Steffi Graf in 1994 and 1996, and Kim Clijsters in 2005.

McLaren has apologized for a software-related issue on an engine control unit it supplies to Formula One teams and which contributed to Red Bull driver Mark Webber's poor start at the Australian Grand Prix.

McLaren said in a statement Wednesday that the "electronic units themselves ran without incident in Melbourne" but that a software glitch resulted in Webber's "garage data system having to be re-started during the formation lap."

Andre Miller scored 13 of his season-best 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Denver Nuggets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 114-104 Tuesday night for their first 13-game winning streak since joining the NBA.

A big performance on his 37th birthday started with an inspirational speech and finished with Miller's play doing all the talking for him.

LeBron James and the Miami Heat escaped Boston with their 23rd consecutive win and now have the second-longest winning streak in NBA history.

Five years to the day after the Celtics ended Houston's winning streak at 22 games, James scored 37 points and made the go-ahead basket with 10.5 seconds left in Miami's 105-103 victory on Monday night.

Former England striker Michael Owen announced on Tuesday that he will retire from professional football at the end of the current season.

"It is with an immense amount of pride that I am announcing my intention to retire from Professional Football at the end of this season," Owen wrote on his personal website.