New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson cracked the fastest century in one-day cricket history on Wednesday, plundering the West Indies attack in a rain-shortened third ODI.

His whirlwind performance overshadowed a century by Jesse Ryder as the pair took New Zealand to 283-4 in a match reduced to 21 overs each side.

Wimbledon runner-up Sabine Lisicki of Germany has pulled out of the season-opening Brisbane International due to a gastrointestinal illness.

The seventh seed was due to meet Swiss player Stefanie Voegele in the second round on Wednesday.

Arsenal are likely to be without Aaron Ramsey for three weeks as Gunners manager Arsene Wenger deals with a potential injury crisis heading into the New Year.

Welsh midfielder Ramsey is on the sidelines with a thigh problem suffered in the 3-1 win at West Ham United on Boxing Day, but he is not the only player missing for the New Year's Day clash against Cardiff City.

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque says his only fear for the 2014 World Cup is players gloating over past victories and failing to be humble in the face of the great challenge ahead in Brazil.

"We have to forget the past and not gloat over what we have won in previous years," Del Bosque told Spanish daily AS in an interview published Tuesday.

Formula One legend Michael Schumacher Tuesday showed a slight improvement after a second operation following his life-threatening ski accident but was "not out of danger," doctors treating him said.

Surgeons said they had "gained some time" by performing a successful second procedure on the seven times world champion on Monday night but he still remained critical.

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker apologized Monday for a newly surfaced photograph that shows him making the same gesture with anti-Semitic connotations that French footballer Nicolas Anelka displayed while celebrating a goal this weekend, creating an uproar in their home country.

The photograph shows Parker and a French comedian making a gesture known in France as a "quenelle," which critics describe as inverted Nazi salute. Parker said in a statement released through the Spurs that the photograph was taken three years ago.

Phoenix closed within half a game of the Los Angeles Clippers for the NBA Pacific Division lead with an impressive 107-88 road win on Monday, with Goran Dragic having 26 points and eight assists before sitting out the fourth quarter.

Among the day's other games, LeBron James celebrated his birthday by returning to Miami's lineup in a narrow win over slumping Denver, New Orleans edged Portland thanks to Tyreke Evans last-gasp jump-shot, and Dallas also prevailed in a tight contest to beat Minnesota.

France's Thomas Voeckler will ride in next month's Tour Down Under as part of a cosmopolitan Europcar team, competing in a ProTour event for the first time.

Voeckler, one of cycling's top climbers, has worn the yellow jersey in the Tour de France twice and finished fourth in the 2011 race. His Europcar teammates include Germany's Bjorn Thurau and former Japan road race champion Yukiya Arashiro.

Fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych lost his first match of the season Monday, falling to Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4) at the Qatar Open.

Karlovic served 25 aces and had 49 winners, while Berdych had eight aces and 28 winners. Neither player managed to break serve.

Successive-day bombings on a railway station and trolleybus in Russia's heartland expose the challenge President Vladimir Putin faces in ensuring a safe Olympics on the edge of the violence-plagued North Caucasus.

The Kremlin chief beat extreme odds in 2007 to bring the showcase winter event to the summer Black Sea retreat of Sochi after personally pledging before Olympic chiefs in Guatemala to make the Games into a "safe, enjoyable and memorable experience".