Roger Federer fought through a tough first set and turned it on in the second to beat Juan Monaco 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 as the Swiss clocked his 20th win of the season to advance at the Miami ATP Masters 1000.

The third seed, who won the event at Crandon Park twice, improved his record on the season to 20-3 in a campaign dominated so far by the 20-match winning streak of second-seeded Serb rival Novak Djokovic.

Novak Djokovic ran his phenomenal 2011 win streak to 20-0 Sunday, with a 6-2, 6-0 thrashing of former top 10 player James Blake at the $9 million Miami WTA and ATP Masters.

The second-seeded Serb, winner of all three events he has played this season, remains the only man in the top 125 not to have lost a match this year.

Not so many years ago this fixture would have been considered an away banker but it says much for the development of football in Slovenia recently that they are expecting to beat Italy.

The two face off on Friday in a Group C top of the table clash that could go some way to demonstrating which side is better equipped to take the one automatic place on offer for Euro 2012.

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova believes Roger Federer will struggle to regain his world number one ranking after being supplanted by Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Speaking at a press event to promote this year's Liverpool International exhibition tournament, Navratilova said while Federer still had the ability to win a Grand Slam event, it was "difficult to see" him regaining top spot.

Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Rajon Rondo added 13 points and 12 assists, and the Boston Celtics scored the final 10 points for a spirited 96-86 victory over the New York Knicks on Monday night.

With blood flowing and bodies flying, the Celtics showed the Knicks they will be tough to beat next month if this was in fact a preview of a first-round playoff series.

France playmaker Franck Ribery, back in the national team for the first time since the World Cup fiasco, apologized on Monday for his behavior in the run up to and during a disastrous 2010 season.

Before his first press conference since the World Cup, Ribery read a statement in which he explained how he "got it wrong in his behavior as a footballer (during) a horrible 2010 from all points of view."

World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki claimed her 14th career title, outlasting France's Marion Bartoli 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 in the WTA Indian Wells final on Sunday.

Denmark's Wozniacki captured her second title of 2011 and becomes the eighth different women's champion in eight years at the $4.5 million WTA hardcourt tournament.

Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic won the ATP Indian Wells title, rallying to beat world No. 1 Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and improve his record this season to 18-0.

Djokovic, who took over the No. 2 world ranking by beating Roger Federer in the semi-finals, on Sunday avenged a loss to Nadal in the 2007 Indian Wells final.

Carlo Ancelotti insists his Chelsea remain bystanders in the title race but their chances of making a late charge will strengthen if they can secure victory over Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Similarly, City's hopes of remaining on the coat-tails of leading two Manchester United and Arsenal will be maintained should they complete a second successive double over Ancelotti's side.

World number one Rafael Nadal battled back from losing the first set against 239th-ranked Ivo Karlovic to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells.

The Spanish top seed on Thursday clinched a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (9/7) win on his third match point in the third set tiebreak when the Croatian smacked a forehand long to end the match lasting nearly two-and-a-half hours.