IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Tennis

Czech teen shocks defending champ Williams

MEMPHIS, Tennessee: Czech qualifier Petra Kvitova rallied to upset defending champ Venus Williams 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, ousting the top-seeded American from the Memphis ATP/WTA event here Tuesday.

"I am really happy and I was very nervous in the first set," Kvitova said. "I started to believe I could win this match in the third set.

"I didn't think I could do it in the first set. I served very good and it's the best match I've ever played."

Kvitova, who will turn 18 next month, posted her first-ever WTA Tour win in a main draw earlier this month at Paris, defeating Medina Garrigues in the first round.

Soccer

Nedved off as Juventus held in derby

TURIN, Italy: Juventus' battle to take second place in Serie A suffered a fresh blow on Tuesday as it was held 0-0 in the Turin derby by Torino and had former Czech international midfielder Pavel Nedved sentoff.

Juventus, which lost 2-1 to lowly Reggina on Saturday, trails AS Roma by three points with the team from the capital due to take on leader Inter Milan on Wednesday in Milan.

Juventus - still without leading scorer David Trezeguet who has sinusitis - dominated the encounter but found a formidable obstacle in the form of Torino 'keeper Matteo Sereni.

Italian coach Materazzi keen on Iran post

ROME: Italian coach Giuseppe Materazzi said on Tuesday he had been approached by the Iranian Football Federation about taking the national coaching post and added he would be keen to do so.

The 62-year-old, the father of World Cup-winning defender Marco, has been without a job since being sacked by Italian second diviison outfit Bari at the end of December.

"They (the Iranian Federation directors) asked me if I was available to coach the national side," he said. "I immediately said I was available and keen to do so."

Police raid DFB offices under monopoly suspicion

FRANKFURT, Germany: The offices of both the German Football Federation (DFB) and the German Football League (DFL) were raided in Frankfurt on Tuesday with documents seized by plain-clothed police and officers from the Federal Cartel Office (FCO).

Both premises were raided on Tuesday afternoon under a search warrant from Bonn's district court, issued after a request from the FCO - which protects against monopolies - amidst suspicion of "competition-limiting arrangements".

According to German sports agency SID, the DFB and DFL are under suspicion of working together to exclude competition between the DFB and the licencing associations in Germany's lucrative sports market.

Motor Sports

Hamilton fastest in Barcelona testing again

BARCELONA, Spain: McLaren's strong form at Barcelona continued on Tuesday on the penultimate day of the final preseason group test as Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen finished clear of Ferrari.

Hamilton, Britain's 2007 Formula One title runner-up, was the fastest for the second straight day.

The 22-year-old recorded a fastest time of 1 minute 21.234 seconds while his teammate Kovalainen was second fastest (1:21.434)

World champion Kimi Raikkonen of Finland finished third (1:21.722) in a Ferrari.

Hamilton's former teammate Spain's Fernando Alonso, who has said he is pessimistic about Renault's chances at the start of the season, was two seconds off the McLarens in 13th.

(China Daily 02/28/2008 page24)