If anyone still harbored any doubts about whether Serena Williams is back at her best, she put on a pretty persuasive performance during the first 17 minutes of her third-round match Saturday at the U.S. Open.

That's how long Williams needed to build a 5-0 lead en route to a 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory at Flushing Meadows over one of the best players the women's field had to offer: fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka, a Wimbledon semifinalist two months ago.

Six cities from Europe, Asia and the Middle East are competing to host the 2020 Olympics.

Submitting bids to the International Olympic Committee by Friday's deadline were Rome; Madrid; Tokyo; Istanbul; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan.

Four NASCAR stars will take a pass on meeting President Obama at the White House.

It doesn't have anything to do with politics.

Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart will be sidelined for six weeks after suffering a torn hamstring.

Van der Vaart sustained the injury in his left leg in the closing stages of last Sunday's 5-1 home defeat against Manchester City.

A hat trick by new Arsenal signing Park Chu-young lifted South Korea to a 6-0 win over Lebanon in their World Cup qualifier on Friday.

Ji Dong-won of Sunderland also scored twice as Korea outclassed the visitors from start to finish to take an early lead at the top of Group B in the third round of Asian qualifying.

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque said on Friday that conflict between Real Madrid and Barcelona has not spilled over into the national team.

Tensions between the two sides boiled over during last month's Spanish Super Cup.

European powerhouses Germany and Spain are on the brink of reaching Euro 2012 ahead of the latest round of qualifying matches on Friday and Saturday.

World Cup semi-finalists Germany, who have won all seven of their Group A matches to date, will be assured of a place in Poland and Ukraine if they defeat Austria in Gelsenkirchen on Friday evening.

Portugal boss Paulo Bento says his side need to "move on" following the shock exit of Real Madrid defender Ricardo Carvalho just two days before his side take on Cyprus in a crucial Euro 2012 qualifier in Nicosia.

Portugal, on 10 points, currently top Norway and Denmark in Group H thanks to goal difference and need to secure maximum points against a Cyprus side who stunned them in a 4-4 draw when the two sides first met in September last year.

The crowd was standing and the tension built as the rally got longer and longer.

Could Carlos Berlocq really do it? No, not take down top-seeded Novak Djokovic. Just get a game off him.

Real Madrid center-back Ricardo Carvalho announced on Wednesday that he was turning his back on the Portuguese national team after walking out of their training camp.

"I didn't intend to end my journey like this," explained Carvalho in a statement, where he complained of a "lack of respect" and said his "dignity had been hurt" but did not offer any further explanation.