Roger Federer clinched his 20th successive victory while Rafael Nadal produced his best performance of the Qatar Open as the two great rivals came within one round of a showdown in the opening week of the season.

Federer's was an up-and-down effort in a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 success against Andreas Seppi, the eighth-seeded Italian, but Nadal had to be close to his muscular, tenacious best to see off the challenge of Russian Mikhail Youzhny in Thursday's quarter-finals.

Kimi Raikkonen on Thursday blasted critics who claim he'll struggle to recapture his world championship glory days when he returns to Formula One with Lotus this season.

The Finn won the 2007 world title before leaving for the world rally championship where he spent two years.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez on Thursday issued an apology after receiving an eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra, but stopped short of saying sorry to the Manchester United defender.

Liverpool said Tuesday they had accepted Suarez's ban for calling Evra a racial name but the player issued a statement the same day maintaining his innocence.

A ticketing mix-up by London Olympic organizers will pay off for some buyers: Instead of tickets for synchronized swimming, they'll get to see the 100-meter track final.

Organizers said Wednesday they accidentally oversold 10,000 tickets for synchronized swimming because of human error in processing applications.

The Clippers are more than just Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and a no-name supporting cast.

Ask the Houston Rockets.

Sir Alex Ferguson insisted it's not time to panic despite admitting Manchester United had handed the Premier League title initiative back to Manchester City.

A stunned Ferguson saw his side suffer a comprehensive 3-0 defeat at Newcastle, condemning them to back-to-back league losses for the first time in 10 months to remain in second, three points adrift of Roberto Mancini's leaders, while holding the same advantage over Tottenham Hotspur, in third.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer eased into the Qatar Open quarterfinals in rare cool and windy conditions in Doha on Wednesday.

Nadal routed German qualifier Denis Gremelmayr 6-2, 6-2, while Federer overwhelmed Slovenia qualifier Grega Zemlja 6-2, 6-3.

Brazilian football icon Ronaldo said Wednesday on his Twitter account that he has contracted dengue fever.

"I am convalescing. I was discharged last night. Now I have to rest to recover quickly," wrote the 34-year-old star, who last year accepted an invitation to become head of the 2014 World Cup organizing committee. Brazil is to host the event.

A Cesc Fabregas first-half double inspired Barcelona to a 4-0 win over Osasuna in their Spanish Cup Last 16 first leg match on Wednesday.

Two-time world player of the year Lionel Messi came on midway through the second-half to add another two, his first a header set up by a Fabregas cross to give last season's beaten finalists a healthy advantage ahead of next week's second leg.

David Beckham may not be headed to Paris Saint-Germain, but it's still not certain he will be back with Major League Soccer champions the Los Angeles Galaxy, The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Tim Leiweke, chief executive of Galaxy's owners AEG, told the newspaper that there was still no deal in place for Beckham to stay with the club, although the Galaxy want to keep him.