American great Andre Agassi Friday urged tennis to do whatever it takes to curb doping, saying stronger controls would have stopped him "destroying" years of his life with recreational drugs.

Agassi, describing his shock and anger at Lance Armstrong's confession he cheated his way to seven Tour de France wins, spoke candidly about his use of crystal methamphetamine, which he first revealed in his autobiography.

The NBA's New Orleans Hornets will become the Pelicans beginning in the 2013-14 season, team owner Tom Benson announced on Thursday.

Benson said the new name -- unveiled complete with a logo of a stylized bird with a fierce glare -- is nod to the pelican's long association with the state of Louisiana, nicknamed "The Pelican State".

Lionel Messi scored on his 15th straight start to seal a thrilling 4-2 win for Barcelona at Malaga on Thursday, sending the defending champions through to a Copa del Rey semifinal against archrival Real Madrid.

Barcelona broke a rare two-game winless streak by outgunning Malaga to reach its sixth semifinal in seven years with a 6-4 victory on aggregate.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic produced one of the best performances of his career Thursday as he destroyed fourth seed David Ferrer to reach the Australian Open final.

The Serbian world number one was simply on a different level to the Spaniard, reeling off a staggering 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 victory in just 1hr 29min in front of a stunned Rod Laver Arena crowd.

With Real Madrid finally finding its stride, goalkeeper Iker Casillas has broken his hand as the team approaches a critical stretch of the season.

Casillas hurt his hand in a Copa del Rey quarterfinal match at Valencia on Wednesday, when teammate Alvaro Arbeloa kicked his left hand while clearing a loose ball in the area. Casillas immediately called for the team doctors before leaving the field in obvious pain.

Three days after his father died, Maxim Trankov and his Russian partner Tatiana Volosozhar took the lead in the pairs after the short program at the European figure skating championships on Wednesday.

Skating to "The Godfather," defending champions Volosozhar and Trankov produced a triple twist, side by side triple salchow, and a throw triple loop.

Real Madrid overcame the loss of goalkeeper Iker Casillas and two dismissals to reach the Copa del Rey semifinals after drawing 1-1 at Valencia on Wednesday, setting up a possible clash with archrival Barcelona.

Madrid went through on a 3-1 aggregate score after making good on its 2-0 win in the first leg despite losing Casillas to a hand injury in the 13th minute.

Swansea's progress to the final of the League Cup was overshadowed by a bizarre sending-off of Chelsea star Eden Hazard on Wednesday following an off-the-pitch incident involving a ball boy.

A miserable night for the European champions at Liberty Stadium was sealed when Hazard was shown a red card for kicking the ball boy in the ribs while attempting to retrieve the ball in the 79th minute, with Chelsea needing two goals to force extra time in the second leg of the semifinal.

Victoria Azarenka had to endure some anxious moments before and after her win over American teenager Sloane Stephens.

Li Na wasn't flustered at all as she beat No. 2-ranked Maria Sharapova.

Golden State's two key men made timely bids for inclusion in the NBA All-Star game by putting in powerful performances and leading the Warriors to a 104-99 win over the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.

On the eve of the announcement for the All-Star reserves, Stephen Curry had 31 points and seven assists while David Lee finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds for Golden State.