Venus Beats Razzano In Dubai To Win 40th Title...

Venus Williams won her 40th singles title on Saturday by defeating unseeded Virginie Razzano 6-4, 6-2 to win the Dubai Championships.

It was the 28-year-old American's seventh triumph in her last eight finals, with her last title coming at the WTA Championships in Doha in November.

The opening set was closely contested, with her serve giving Williams the edge at the beginning although that was eventually dissolved by the quality of Razzano's returns.

After failing to convert two match points on Razzano's serve at 5-1 Williams double-faulted twice as she dropped the seventh game but she finally closed out the match on her fourth match point when Razzano netted a forehand.

Thanks to her good run in Dubai which featured victories over three seeds, including second-ranked Dinara Safina and number five Vera Zvonareva, Razzano is projected to rise from 58th in the world into the top 40.

A Close Contest Is In The Offing...

New Zealand are a tough team to beat at home.

No one is more aware of this simple fact than the Indians.

In January 1976, India defeated New Zealand by eight wickets at Auckland.

Since then, Indian teams have played 13 Tests in the country without winning even one. Six have been lost and seven drawn.

Over the last 33 years, Indian teams have won a Test series in England, West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka besides beating Zimbabwe and Bangladesh black and blue. They have won a Test match in South Africa and shared a series in Australia three times.

So why has it been so hard for Indian teams to do well in New Zealand a country where they notched up their first win abroad on their way to their maiden series triumph 41 years ago? Clearly, the seaming, swinging and swirling conditions have been the main problem for Indian batsmen.

Andy Murray Will Be World No 1, Says Nadal...

Spanish tennis great Rafael Nadal has said he could lose his world No 1 spot to Britain's Andy Murray eventually.

Speaking after being beaten by Murray in the final of the AMB AMRO World Indoor Tournament in Rotterdam, Nadal said: "Andy is already having a good season. He won in Doha, he lost in the fourth round in Australia, but against a very good Fernando Verdasco, and he won here in Rotterdam.’’

"He is No 4 in the world now and he can be better because he has not many points to defend from here to Wimbledon so he can improve his ranking more. Sure, he is good and he can be No 1, No 2, No 3 -- I don't think it will be a problem."

Murray has won 10 career titles already with seven of them coming indoors, the Sun reports. And he has beaten Nadal twice so far this year.

Paralympian Pistorious Is Fine After Accident...

South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius will make a full recovery from head and facial injuries suffered in a boating accident, his agent says.

Pistorius, 22, a double-amputee, picked up three gold medals at the Beijing Paralympics in September. Agent Peet van Zyl told the BBC Sunday that Pistorius will be back on the track sooner rather than later. He has sustained no leg, arm or rib damage.

Pistorius was listed in stable condition in the intensive care unit of a Johannesburg hospital after surgery following Saturday's accident. He had been airlifted from the accident site on the Vaal River, but details of the accident remain sketchy, the BBC said.

Pistorius has two prosthetic legs and is nicknamed The Blade Runner. The British broadcaster said his legs were removed between the knee and ankle as a baby.

Phelps "messed up" With Pot, Says Olympic Teammate...

Michael Phelps' Olympic teammate Ryan Lochte agreed that the swimmer "messed up with the pot" but vows to support him now matter what.

Phelps was snapped smoking marijuana pipe in November last year at a house party organised by University of South Carolina.

"He's a good friend of mine, and he's a good teammate," Usmagazine quoted Lochte as saying.

"Yeah, he messed up, but hopefully he'll learn from it. Hopefully everyone will learn from it.

"Everyone on the U.S. Olympic team, we're all going to support him no matter what," he added.

Although Phelps has apologised for his "regrettable behaviour", US Swimming has suspended the 14-time gold medallist for three months, and he has also lost his Kellogg's endorsement deal.

Woods Set To Return On International Golf Course...

Tiger Woods is set to return to playing golf on the international circuit when he participates in the Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson, Arizona after nearly a year.

"I'm now ready to play again," he said on his official website.

John Cook, who practiced with Woods at their home course in Orlando, said the former No.1 was hitting full shots with ease and is all geared-up for the tournament.

"It won't take him long. It really won't. "The quality of golf is going to be as good as or better than ever because he's actually got a left leg to hit against," The Daily News quoted Cook, as saying.

"From what I saw, he could step right in anywhere, just like he never left," he added.

Anand Held By Dominguez In Spain...

World champion Viswanathan Anand played out a hard fought draw with Grandmaster Lenier Dominguez of Cuba in the third round of the 22nd Ciudad de Leon chess tournament here on Sunday.

Taking his tally to 1.5 points out of a possible three, the Indian ace remained in the joint third spot in the eight-players double round-robin tournament.

The standings remained the same as the other games of the third round were also hard fought draws.

Grandmaster Levon Aronian of Armenia and Alexander Grischuk of Russia remained in joint lead with two points after drawing with Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine respectively.

Wang Yue played a solid game to hold Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the fourth game of the day.

Anand shares the third spot along side Dominguez, Carlsen and Ivanchuk while Radjabov and Wang Yue are currently at the bottom of the tables with one point each.

Eleven more rounds remain in the traditional tournament that carries a total prize pool of euro 3,14,000 with euro 1,00,000 reserved for the winner.

Playing the black side of a Sicilian Nazdorf, Anand faced the English attack from Dominguez but defended his citadel well.

Sania Jumps To 87 on WTA Rankings...

Sania Mirza is back in the top 100 on the WTA rankings, jumping 39 rungs after her stupendous performance at the Pattaya Open last week. Sania, who in her fourth WTA final lost to Russian Vera Zvonareva Sunday, is ranked 87th in the latest charts released on Monday.

The India No. 1, who had the highest ranking of 27 in August 2007, crashed to 126th after being sidelined by a nagging wrist injury for the large part of last year.

The Pattaya Open was 22-year-old Hyderabadi's second tournament since the 2008 Beijing Olympics in August.

She returned to competitive tennis at the Australian Open last month and lost in the second round of the singles to Russian Nadia Petrova. She, however, went on to win her first Grand Slam mixed doubles title with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi.

In the men's rankings, India's No.1 Somdev Devvarman moved a place up to 154 in the singles while Prakash Amritraj has also climbed a rung to 198. Rohan Bopanna is at 321, moving up four places.

In the doubles, Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes remain at fifth and seventh respectively. Mahesh's partner Mark Knowles of the Bahamas is sixth while Leander's Czech associate Lukas Dlouhy at 10th.