Sports

The Romanian had to dig deep for a come-from-behind win against Kaia Kanepi, the unseeded Estonian who dumped her from last year's US Open first round.

The doubt-stricken player with a dodgy elbow, who exited early from the last two Melbourne tournaments, has since been replaced by the world-beating Djokovic of old.

In what is tipped to be the final edition of the unique tournament, the best was saved for last as Federer became the first player to win three Hopman Cups, teaming with Belinda Bencic for the duo's second consecutive title.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as voracious Italian champions Juventus finished 2018 on a high with a 2-1 win over Sampdoria to set a new points record in Serie A before the winter break as Inter Milan's Senegalese winger Keita Balde scored the only goal...

City end 2018 with a testing visit to Southampton before opening 2019 with leaders Liverpool coming to the Etihad, a game in which defeat for City could leave them 10 or more points off first place.

Jamshedpur FC brought their campaign back on track with an excellent 2-1 comeback win against Delhi Dynamos to keep their play-off hopes alive at the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) on Wednesday.

Former international Gregg Berhalter was named as the United States' new head coach on Sunday, ending a year-long search for a full-time boss following the country's failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Akashdeep impressed all and sundry in his new role as linkman by not only setting up a goal for Lalit Upadhyay but also scoring one in India's 5-0 rout of South Africa in their Pool C opener.

Victory puts Sevilla one point above Barcelona at the summit, two clear of Atletico and six ahead of Real, who are languishing in sixth.

Pep Guardiola's side were in clinical form in east London as the champions maintained their unbeaten start after 13 games of the Premier League season.

Roger Federer staved off elimination from the ATP Finals as the six-time champion eased to a 6-2, 6-3 win over Dominic Thiem on Tuesday.

Cilic, Anderson, Nishikori and Thiem are all Grand Slam finalists. But it is difficult to see anybody other than Federer or Djokovic prevailing.

It might not be enough to save Julen Lopetegui but Real Madrid's 2-1 Champions League win over Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday stopped the rot and restored some belief.

The defending champions had a glorious chance to score a breakthrough goal in the 70th minute when a cleared corner kick turned into a counter-attack.

The 37-year-old Federer last lost at the Swiss Indoors in 2013, going down to Juan Martin del Potro.

Male players were slapped with 1,517 fines compared to 535 fines for females according to data compiled by officials at Grand Slam tournaments for the period covering 1998 to 2018.