Tomas Berdych took another step towards securing a place in the eight-man ATP season wrap-up as the Czech fifth seed reached the third round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Fernando Verdasco.

The 2010 Wimbledon finalist still needs to gain a place in the quarter-finals at the Bercy arena to claim sixth place at the World Tour Finals which start November 20 in London.

Joe Frazier had to throw his greatest punch to knock down "The Greatest."

A vicious left hook from Frazier put Muhammad Ali on the canvas in the 15th round in March 1971 when he became the first man to beat him in the Fight of the Century at Madison Square Garden.

The Olympic torch will visit famous sights such as Stonehenge on its journey around Britain before the London 2012 Games, organizers said on Monday.

The flame will also scale mountains, telescopes, take a ride on the train and a dash through a shopping center on its 70-day tour.

Qatar reveled Sunday in the AFC Champions League title win of its unfancied standard-bearer Al Sadd and eyed further footballing trophies before it hosts the 2022 World Cup.

"We hope that this historic victory marks the beginning and will lead to other achievements for Qatari football in the future," said Qatar Football Association chairman Sheikh Hamad al-Thani.

Petra Kvitova helped give the Czech Republic a 1-0 lead in their Fed Cup final encounter with hosts Russia after beating Maria Kirilenko in straight sets here on Saturday.

The 21-year-old left-hander, who is currently ranked second in the world, won 6-2, 6-2 in one hour 10 minutes to record her first win over Kirilenko in their third meeting.

Italy's Carolina Kostner wobbled on a couple of landings but held on to beat American Mirai Nagasu for the women's title at the Cup of China on Saturday.

Kostner, who led after Friday's short program, finished with 182.14 total points. Nagasu was second with 173.22.

Paris Saint-Germain have confirmed to AFP that they are in "discussions" over the signing of David Beckham but that they are not in a position to confirm anything at the moment.

Beckham, 36, will be freed from his Los Angeles Galaxy contract in a matter of days and has expressed interest in the project that PSG are assembling with the huge financial backing of owners Qatar Sports Investments (QSI).

With disgruntled NBA players pondering decertification of their union, Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan is heading a group of a dozen owners opposing any big concessions in labor talks.

The NBA owners and players union representatives plan to resume collective bargaining talks Saturday and the owners have scheduled a meeting prior to the main bargaining session. Jordan's group is expected to lobby hard against making any more major concessions in the next round of talks, The New York Times reported Friday.

Swimming great Ian Thorpe failed to qualify for Singapore's World Cup short-course 100m butterfly final Saturday as his keenly awaited comeback from a five-year retirement ended in disappointment.

The five-time Olympic champion, who finished second-last in the 100m individual medley final on Friday, was third in his butterfly heat in 54.09 seconds but 11th overall, denying him his only remaining chance of a medal.

Australian swimming great Ian Thorpe made a disappointing return to action Friday as he finished second-last in his first race since ending a five-year retirement.

Thorpe, 29, swimming the unaccustomed 100m individual medley at a World Cup short-course event in Singapore, was already off the pace after the first 25m and he ended seventh, more than three seconds adrift of winner Chad le Clos.