Championship leader Fernando Alonso believes this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix will reveal Ferrari's potential to sustain their fight for world championship glory.

The Italian team struggled during winter testing and were a long way off the pace at the season-opening race in Melbourne.

Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer will meet in an all-Spanish French Open semifinal after winning their way through from the last eight on Wednesday.

Defending champion and second seed Nadal ousted another Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, 6-3, while sixth seed Ferrer outgunned fourth seed Andy Murray of Britain 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-2.

The Spanish squad is united and not riven by a split between Real Madrid players and those from Barcelona said Real defender Alvaro Arbeloa on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old - a member of the Spanish squads that won both Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup - denied Barcelona midfield general Xavi Hernandez's assertion last week that there was an underlying bitterness between the two camps.

The Olympic flame lit up the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday on its only visit outside Britain en route to the 2012 London Games, in a symbolic gesture of reconciliation between the two states.

Wayne McCullough, from Belfast, passed the flame across the border to his fellow 1992 Olympic boxing medalist Michael Carruth, in a light-hearted ceremony in which McCullough kissed his Dubliner friend on the head.

Australian international Tim Cahill has not discounted the prospect of leaving the English Premier League to play in the Middle East, reports said Thursday.

Cahill, 32, has two years left on his contract with Everton but has been linked with a reported $Aus4 million ($4 million) deal for one season at the cash-rich United Arab Emirates club Al Nasr where compatriot Mark Bresciano currently plays.

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova reached the semifinals for the third time in the past four Grand Slam tournaments, ending 142nd-ranked qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova's upset-filled run at the French Open 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 Wednesday.

She will play against Russia’s Maria Sharapova who knocked out Kaia Kanepi in straight sets earlier on Wednesday.

The chairman of Al-Wasl says the United Arab Emirates club has made a bid for Didier Drogba but that he expects the former Chelsea star to sign with a Chinese club.

Marwan bin Bayat would not say Wednesday how much Al-Wasl has offered Drogba, only that it was less than what has been offered from the Chinese team.

A trumpet fanfare and a sea of national flags greeted Spain's arrival in Poland on Tuesday, as they aimed to become the first side in the history of the European football championships to win back-to-back titles.

Vicente Del Bosque's side flew into the Baltic port city of Gdansk in northern Poland and made straight for the small town of Gniewino 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) away, where they will be based for the duration of the tournament.

Boston moved to within one victory of the NBA Finals as they beat Miami 94-90, with Kevin Garnett scoring 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

The Celtics took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final and will advance with a home win in game six on Thursday.

Sometimes, when everything's on the line, it's easier to play like there's nothing to lose.

Novak Djokovic knows that drill.