Rafael Nadal's white T-shirt carried specks of rust-colored clay and his white socks were smothered with the stuff during a practice session on Court Philippe Chatrier in the steamy early afternoon Thursday.

As Nadal slid across his favorite surface, in his favorite stadium, at his favorite tournament, a picture of a shiny French Open trophy rotated on a video board overhead. Under the close watch of his coach, and fully focused on the work at hand, Nadal never stole a glance at that photo. No need: He ought to have every feature of that prize memorized by now.

Describing talks with Saudi Arabia as "not an easy situation," IOC President Jacques Rogge said the Olympic body is still working with the Gulf country on sending female athletes to the London Games.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei are the only countries that have never field women on their Olympic teams. While Qatar and Brunei have announced plans to take female athletes to London, the Saudis have not yet done so.

Barcelona can cap four illustrious years under Pep Guardiola with a 14th trophy when it plays Athletic Bilbao in Friday's Copa del Rey final.

The match at Atletico Madrid's Vicente Calderon Stadium will be Guardiola's last in charge of the team, ending an unprecedented period of success for Barcelona since the former player took charge in 2008.

Dwyane Wade scored 41 points and NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James added 28 Thursday as the Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 105-93 to reach the Eastern Conference finals.

After falling behind 2-1 in the-best-of-seven second-round series, the star-studded Heat won three straight games to advance to the conference finals.

The race for the 2020 Olympics will come down to a contest between Madrid, Tokyo, and Istanbul after the IOC trimmed the field Wednesday, once again rejecting Doha's bid to take the games to tiny Qatar.

Doha and Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, were eliminated as the International Olympic Committee settled on a shortlist of three finalists. Both cities also failed to make the cut for the 2016 Games.

The Philadelphia 76ers kept their season alive with an 82-75 victory over the Boston Celtics to force a seventh game in their Eastern Conference playoff series.

Jrue Holiday finished with a team-high 20 points and six assists while Elton Brand had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Sixers who evened the second round series at three games each.

When Sebastian Vettel headed to the Monaco Grand Prix last season, all the talk was of how quickly the Red Bull driver would wrap up the Formula One championship.

It could not be more different this year, with the two-time defending champion tied with two-time former champion Fernando Alonso of Spain and seven drivers within 20 points of each other in one of the most wide-open seasons for years.

The Brazilian government insisted Wednesday it's not worried with the pace of preparations for the 2014 World Cup even though it announced that only five percent of all the planned projects have been completed.

With about two years left before the World Cup, the government said 41 percent of the infrastructure work across the country has yet to start, and 15 percent of those projects are still in the planning stages.

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness will tell Thursday's edition of Bild that Jupp Heynckes will remain as coach of the German giants next season "whatever happens."

"Why would he leave? He has a contract. He will stay whatever happens," Hoeness is quoted as saying.

Chelsea's Champions League hero Didier Drogba was given a rapturous welcome as he carried the Olympic flame on Wednesday, the day after announcing he was leaving the club.

Drogba was mobbed by thousands of people lining the route as he jogged through Swindon town center in western England with his torch on the fifth day of the relay ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.