Controversial sprinter Justin Gatlin fired a World Championships warning shot Sunday, winning the 200m title at the U.S. athletics championships in a blistering 19.57sec.

"I wanted to come out and make a statement, and that's what I did," Gatlin said after a career-best that improved on the season-leading 19.68 he set on the same Hayward Field track at the Eugene Diamond League meeting in May.

Germany and the United States clash in Montreal on Tuesday for the first final berth of the Women's World Cup with champions Japan and England playing their semi-final in Edmonton on Wednesday.

As the tournament enters the final straight the world order remains unchanged with the only absence being third-ranked France who came up against top-ranked Germany in the quarter-finals, losing 5-4 on penalties after the tie ended 1-1 after extra time.

David Ferrer has been forced to withdraw from Wimbledon on the eve of the tournament after the Spaniard suffered an elbow injury.

Ferrer, 33, was due to face Britain's James Ward in the first round of the grass-court Grand Slam, which starts on Monday.

Novak Djokovic insists his lack of grass-court practice won't be a hindrance as the Serb aims to erase the bitter memory of his French Open heartache by retaining the Wimbledon title.

While Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal have all won a Wimbledon warm-up event over the last three weeks, Djokovic opted against playing any competitive tennis in the aftermath of his painful Roland Garros final loss against Stan Wawrinka.

Top-ranked Germany kept their bid for a record third title on track Friday when they won a dramatic penalty shoot-out 5-4 to break French hearts and advance to the semi-finals at the Women's World Cup.

The thrilling quarter-final game at Montreal's Olympic Stadium went to a nail-biting penalty shoot-out after the two teams were locked 1-1 after 30 minutes of extra time.

Carlos Tevez fired Argentina into the semi-finals of the Copa America here Friday, scoring the decisive spot-kick as the tournament favorites defeated Colombia 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out.

Tevez, who missed the crucial penalty when Argentina went out in a shoot-out at the 2011 tournament, rammed homed the winning spot-kick after Colombia's Jeison Murillo had blazed over the bar.

Two-time Grand Slam finalist Mark Philippoussis plans to make his return to the ATP Tour as a wildcard entry in the qualifying draw for next month's Hall of Fame Tennis Championship.

The Aussie, who once boasted one of the hardest serves on the Tour, has been out of the game for almost a decade.

The prospect of the fantastic four lining up to contest what could be the most exciting Tour de France in years has whet the appetite of cycling fans since Vincenzo Nibali's dominant victory last year.

That too was supposed to produce a battle royale between three strong pretenders.

France coach Philippe Bergeroo has had six months to worry about meeting top-ranked Germany in the quarterfinals of the women's World Cup, and four days to prepare for the actual match.

The No. 3 team in the world will play Germany, ranked No. 1 by FIFA, in a quarterfinal match being called an "early final" and a "final before its time." The winner likely will be the favorite to win the whole tournament.

The last time the United States played China in the Women's World Cup was in the 1999 final at the Rose Bowl, when the Americans won on penalty kicks for their second title and Brandi Chastain famously ripped off her jersey.

The teams meet again Friday night, with the winner advancing to a semifinal against top-ranked Germany or No. 3 France, and the Americans still are seeking their third title.