Romania's Simona Halep comfortably defeated Canada's Eugenie Bouchard 6-2, 6-3 on Monday's opening night of the WTA Finals.

In a clash of the only two players making their first appearance at the season-ending championships, Halep lost only four points when getting her first serve into play.

Queen's Park Rangers boss Harry Redknapp has blasted the weight and attitude of star midfielder Adel Taarabt who he said is carrying too many pounds to finish a game.

Redknapp demanded the 25-year-old Moroccan prove he was worth his weekly wage of about $100,000 (80,000 euros, £60,000).

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has admitted his side have stalled this season in the absence of last season's Premier League Player of the Year Luis Suarez.

The Uruguayan scored 31 goals as Liverpool came within three points of winning their first league title in 14 years before joining Barcelona in July for a reported £75 million ($125 million, 95 million euros) in July.

Real Madrid look set to be without Gareth Bale for their Champions League trip to Liverpool on Wednesday after a scan revealed the Welshman has an abdominal injury.

"After the tests carried out on Gareth Bale by the Real Madrid medical team, a muscular injury has been diagnosed in his right pyramidalis muscle," the club said in a statement on Monday without stating how long they expect Bale to be sidelined.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says he is unsure when Diego Costa will return from injury and has attacked the Spanish national team for its treatment of the striker.

Costa, whose nagging hamstring problems are being carefully managed by Chelsea, missed the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday after playing back-to-back games for Spain during the two-week international break.

An incident-filled weekend in England was capped Sunday by one of the most dramatic finishes to a Premier League game, with Liverpool beating Queens Park Rangers 3-2 thanks to an own goal in the fifth minute of injury time.

Another home win for Atletico Madrid kept the defending Spanish champions in touch with Barcelona in La Liga and Marseille continues to set a fierce pace in France.

This was supposed to be the season Manchester City finally made a sustained push in the Champions League.

It's not working out that way for the English champions.

Two-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray continues his bid to reach the ATP World Tour Finals next month at the Valencia Open fresh from his second tournament victory of the season in Vienna.

The Scot downed David Ferrer 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 to claim the title on his first appearance in the Austrain capital to move ahead of the Spaniard into the final qualifiyng spot for the season-ending finals in London.

The Lebanese National Rugby Team was defeated on Sunday by the Fiji Bati in a test match at Remondis Stadium in Sydney, Australia.

Fiji won over Lebanon with 40-28 score.

Investigators have found no wrongdoing by jockeys in the death of a 17- year-old apprentice jockey at an Indiana track.

Indiana Horse Racing Commission senior steward Stan Bowker told The Indianapolis Star on Friday the three-member board of stewards found the death of Juan Saez of Panama was "an unfortunate accident."