Briton Johanna Konta went to bed happy after losing in the Wuhan Open quarter finals to childhood idol Venus Williams, saying her performance at the tournament had given her "a lot of confidence".

The British number-one-in-waiting began the year ranked 150 but will likely break into the top 50 when the new rankings are released Monday.

No tournament exemplifies the rise of Novak Djokovic like the China Open and the remorseless Serb is hungry to extend his incredible unbeaten run in Beijing -- and this time, flanked by his brother.

The world number one has an unblemished 24-0 record after winning five times in the Chinese capital and after stamping his authority on men's tennis this year, few look like toppling him.

Mario Balotelli and Keisuke Honda remain doubtful for AC Milan when the stuttering Serie A giants host on-form Napoli looking to avoid becoming the Partenopei's second big-name victim on Sunday.

It took Napoli four games to secure their first Serie A win this season but, after shaking off the cobwebs with a 5-0 thumping of Lazio, they now have Serie A pundits purring about their scudetto-winning potential.

Robert Lewandowski aims to add to his incredible goal-scoring run in Bayern Munich's Bundesliga showdown against ex-club Borussia Dortmund in Germany's “Der Klassiker” on Sunday.

The Poland hot-shot has netted 10 times in his last three games alone and has scored 17 goals for club and country this season.

Real Madrid make the short trip across the Spanish capital to face rivals Atletico on Sunday seeking revenge for their 4-0 humiliation at the Vicente Calderon in the league last season.

Their biggest defeat in a Madrid derby in 27 years precipitated a Real collapse as they surrendered a commanding lead in the La Liga title race that allowed eternal rivals Barcelona to claim a historic treble of league, Copa del Rey and Champions League.

Per Mertesacker has challenged Arsenal to show more aggression as they look to recover from their latest European flop in Sunday's showdown with Premier League leaders Manchester United.

Arsene Wenger's side suffered an embarrassing 3-2 home defeat against Olympiakos in midweek that left them in severe danger of missing out on a place in the Champions League knock-out stages for the first time in 16 years.

Steve Kerr is stepping aside from his job as coach of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors to focus on his recovery from two back surgeries in the past three months.

The NBA team announced Thursday that Kerr would take a leave of absence to continue his rehabilitation from surgery to fix a ruptured disc in July and another operation last month.

Rafael Nadal heaped praise on longstanding rival Novak Djokovic Thursday for playing at a level "difficult to equal" ahead of an exhibition match between the pair in Bangkok.

The Spaniard, who ended the season without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2004, congratulated the top-ranking Serbian for his "amazing" run culminating in last month's US Open title, his third major of the year.

Borussia Dortmund's CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke insists his side are not capable of ending Bayern Munich's domination over the course of a Bundesliga season, ahead of Sunday's top-of-the-table clash.

German league leaders Bayern host second-placed Dortmund at Munich's Allianz Arena with Borussia four points behind Pep Guardiola's Bavarians, who have won all seven league games so far this season.

Cristiano Ronaldo refused to commit his future to Real Madrid just hours after becoming the club's joint leading scorer of all time with two goals on Wednesday.

Ronaldo equaled Raul's record of 323 goals for the Spanish giants in their 2-0 Champions League win over Malmo despite Raul playing over 400 games more for Los Blancos than the Portuguese star, who also passed 500 career goals on the night.