U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday said billionaire NBA owners and millionaire players should think of their fans, bemoaning the labor dispute which has axed the start of the season.

Obama, a hoops enthusiast, also warned that labor stoppages like the one which shuttered the National Basketball Association could take some time to get over.

Maria Sharapova’s hopes of winning back the WTA Championship title after a seven-year interval suffered a blow when she lost her opening match to U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur on Tuesday.

The Russian was playing her first match in nearly four weeks after injuring an ankle in Tokyo, and her uncertainty showed as she lost 6-1, 7-5 to the Australian whom she had beaten in all of their previous nine encounters.

Real Madrid welcomed Portugal full-back Fabio Coentrao and Turkey midfielder Nuri Sahin back to training after injury on Tuesday, on the eve of their home league clash with struggling Villarreal.

Coentrao has been named in the squad for the game at the Santiago Bernabeu after missing the 4-0 wins against Lyon and Malaga with a knee injury.

Aston Villa defender Chris Herd has won his appeal against his red card from last weekend's clash with West Brom, the Football Association confirmed in a statement on Tuesday.

Herd was given his marching orders by referee Phil Dowd for an alleged stamp on Jonas Olsson during Villa's 2-1 defeat to the Baggies on Saturday.

Just days after being forced to flee his burning home after some late-night pyrotechnics that went wrong, Mario Balotelli has emerged as the unlikely face of a firework safety campaign.

The 21-year-old Manchester City star, who scored twice in the 6-1 demolition of Manchester United on Sunday, has denied being responsible for setting off the fireworks which triggered Saturday's blaze.

Maria Sharapova will crown one of tennis's most unlikely comebacks if she regains the title at the $5,000,000 WTA Championships which start on Tuesday.

Sharapova has gradually worked her way back to world number two after an operation in 2008 on a rotator cuff, the kind of shoulder injury from which most players never fully recover.

Defender Carles Puyol will miss Barcelona’s game at Granada on Tuesday as a precaution due to a problem in his groin area.

Gerard Pique will also be out as the center back continues his recovery from a leg injury.

Javier Hernandez has signed a new contract with Manchester United, tying the Mexico striker to the Premier League side until the end of the 2015-16 season.

United said Monday that the 23-year-old Hernandez, who was initially signed from Chivas in July 2010 only as a long-term prospect, had committed to a five-year deal.

Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes has insisted the German league leaders will bounce back after a shock 2-1 defeat at Hanover ended their 13-match unbeaten run.

Both sides had a player sent off in Sunday's bad-tempered match, which resulted in Bayern suffering only their second defeat of the season.

Tickets for India's inaugural Grand Prix have not sold out, prompting organizers to slash prices in an effort to fill the 120,000-capacity circuit.

On Monday, tickets were still available online in all but the cheapest category -- the 2,500-rupee ($55) area.