Tennis chiefs have played down fears that the Asian swing will become the perennial victim of player pull-outs at the end of the grueling season after high-profile absentees at the Shanghai Masters.

The question of burnout was bubbling away again in Shanghai, missing a clutch of top 20 players including marquee names Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, taking some of the shine off the high-profile tournament which finished Sunday.

Both the Manchester clubs finally got their first wins of the Champions League campaign on Tuesday with United beating Romania minnows Otelul Galati 2-0 and City edging Villarreal 2-1.

However, both were not pretty affairs, United relying on two Wayne Rooney second-half penalties - making him the highest ever scoring Englishman in the competition with 26 goals - in a match where both sides ended with 10 men.

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas will give a clear indication of Fernando Torres's place in his long-term plans when he names his team for Wednesday's Champions League clash against Genk.

Torres has been sidelined for Chelsea's last two Premier League games as a result of his reckless red card against Swansea on September 24, but the ban doesn't affect European ties so the Spanish striker is available for Genk's visit to Stamford Bridge.

Football superstar David Beckham looks set to visit Singapore and Indonesia on a promotional tour in the coming weeks, organisers said on Tuesday.

Beckham and his LA Galaxy team are "80 percent" confirmed to stop off in Southeast Asia en route to their friendly game in Melbourne in early December, a promoter told Agence France Presse.

Despite their perfect qualification campaign, only one in five Germans believe their football team will win the European Championships for the fourth time and claim victory in the Euro 2012 final.

According to a survey conducted by SID, an Agence France Presse subsidiary, just 19.5 per cent of those polled here think Germany will win the Euro 2012 final on July 1 in Kiev, with the tournament to be hosted by Poland and the Ukraine.

Ex-Germany captain Michael Ballack is eager to see his Bayer Leverkusen beat Spanish side Valencia on Wednesday in the Champions League to keep up the pressure on Group E leaders Chelsea.

After Leverkusen were beaten 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in their opening game, Ballack scored the final goal in a 2-0 win over Genk in the last round which puts the Germans second in the table and just a point behind his ex-club Chelsea.

British Formula One world champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton lead the tributes on Monday to fellow Brit Dan Wheldon, the IndyCar driver killed in a 15-car crash during an Indy 300 race in Las Vegas.

Wheldon, 33, was airlifted to hospital after he was involved in the horrific crash in lap 11 of the race on Sunday but died of his injuries.

Race car drivers always know the worst can happen whenever they get behind the wheel.

On Sunday, it happened to one of IndyCar's biggest and most popular stars.

Awesome Andy Murray sealed his third straight title and guaranteed that for the first time he will leapfrog Roger Federer to number three in the rankings after a 7-5, 6-4 win over David Ferrer on Sunday.

Defending champion Murray, 24, was tested by the Spaniard but ultimately had too much for the world number five, wrapping up his eighth Masters title in one hour and 45 minutes.

Double world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Korean Grand Prix in crushing fashion Sunday to help his Red Bull team retain the Formula One constructors’ title after a dominant season.

Just a week after cruising to third place in Japan, where Vettel confirmed himself as the 2011 drivers’ world champion, the 24-year-old German was uncatchable as he drove to his 10th win this year, and 20th of his career.