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Roddick planning to marry 20-year-old model Decker
MIAMI, Florida: World No 6 Andy Roddick is planning to marry 20-year-old model Brooklyn Decker.
"The couple wanted to tell their family and close friends first, but good news travels fast," said a note on American Roddick's official website (www.andyroddick.com).
"With their hectic travel schedules, Andy and Brooklyn plan to enjoy their engagement and will wait to set a wedding date."
Decker has appeared as a swimsuit model in Sports Illustrated magazine.
Sixth seed Roddick continued his Sony Ericsson Open campaign with a third-round match against Czech qualifier Ivo Minar in Miami later on Monday.
Kuznetsova to lead Russia, Sharapova out of Fed Cup
MOSCOW: World No 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova will lead Fed Cup champion Russia in next month's semifinal against the United States in Moscow.
In the absence of Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova, who will skip the April 26-27 tie, captain Shamil Tarpishchev also named world No 6 Anna Chakvetadze, 13th-ranked Dinara Safina, Vera Zvonareva (20) and Elena Vesnina (53).
World No 5 Sharapova won both of her singles matches in her Fed Cup debut against Israel last month to help Russia to a 4-1 quarterfinal victory.
"We had an agreement with Kuznetsova and Sharapova that one of them would play against Israel and the other against the US," Tarpishchev said on Monday.
"Sharapova had already played in Tel Aviv, so now it's Kuznetsova's turn. It was sort of a trade-off because both of them have very busy schedules."
Ancelotti dreams of taking over reins of Roma
ROME: AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted on Monday that he wants to take over the reins of Serie A rivals AS Roma.
Ancelotti has won two Champions League titles with Milan, the Serie A crown and even the Club World Cup, but he has come under fire this season as his team languishes in sixth place in the league.
There has been speculation that he is slated to take over from Roberto Donadoni as Italy coach after Euro 2008, but Ancelotti has set his sights on another job.
"If I could decide to finish my career with one club, it would be really wonderful to finish it with Roma," said the former Roma player and captain on La7 program "Victory".
"Rome is the most beautiful city in the world, you cannot find another comparable city anywhere."
Ancelotti spent eight seasons at Roma as a midfielder, winning the Serie A title in 1983 and claiming the Italian Cup four times.
He reached a European Cup final with Roma in 1984 where the team lost to Liverpool.
Mexico fires coach Sanchez after only 16 month on job
MEXICO CITY: Mexico fired coach Hugo Sanchez on Monday after only 16 months on the job, the Mexico Football Federation (FMF) said.
The former Real Madrid striker, widely regarded as the finest player Mexico has produced, was sacked two weeks after the under-23 team, which he also coaches, failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
The FMF said the decision had been taken by a meeting of the federation's executive committee, which is made up of the presidents of the 18 first division clubs.
"By a unanimous decision, the contractual relationship with the technical staff of the national team has been ended," FMF general secretary Decio de Maria told a news conference.
De Maria said that Jesus Ramirez, who coached the Mexico team that won the World Under-17 championship in Peru in 2005, would take over on an interim basis for next month's friendly against China in the United States.
Mexican media have identified a list of possible long-term replacements, including Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari, currently with Portugal, Argentine Jose Pekerman and Italy's 2006 World Cup winning coach Marcelo Lippi.
(China Daily 04/02/2008 page22)
