'Djoker' makes a new friend

Second seed Novak Djokovic distracted the Roland Garros crowd but kept his focus as he made light work of Portuguese Joao Sousa to reach the second round of the French Open with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win on Monday.

French open watch

Poor Nicolas Mahut. Probably was deflating enough that he lost his first-round match at the French Open. Then the Frenchman went to his news conference.

Newly-single McIlroy keen to dominate again

Rory McIlroy put personal turmoil behind him to win the European PGA Championship at Wentworth on Sunday and said he hopes it will help him become the dominant player in world golf.

Beckett pitches no-hitter, Dodgers stop Phillies

Josh Beckett started talking about throwing a no-hitter in the fourth inning, ignoring traditional superstitions and making his catcher nervous in the process.

Score board

Germany eager to end curse of third

Germany heads to Brazil aiming to end its 24-year wait for a fourth World Cup title with captain Philipp Lahm insisting he is sick of finishing third.

Cup theme fails to strike right chord with fans in Brazil

The official World Cup song is definitely striking a chord-the wrong one with many in host country Brazil.

Five youngsters hoping to shine on biggest stage

From Pele in 1958 to Michael Owen 40 years later, the World Cup has launched the careers of some of the most famous footballers ever to grace the sport.

IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Cheers all round in Brazil

Beer and soccer make a powerful team in Brazil, which is bracing for a drinking bonanza when it hosts the World Cup.

Ferguson's wines sell for almost $3.9m

Wines from legendary former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson's private collection sold for almost HK$30 million ($3.87 million ) at an auction in Hong Kong on Saturday, with a single bottle purchased for more than HK$1million.

Battier voted NBA's top teammate

Shane Battier called it one of the biggest honors of his life.