Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has been fined the equivalent of a week's wages by the Premier League club for a night out over the Christmas weekend, according to press reports here on Monday.

Rooney was dropped by United ahead of their shock 3-2 home loss to Blackburn last Saturday, officially because of fitness concerns.

Rafa Nadal admits he is having to take risks in order to achieve the level required to win back the world number one ranking.

The French Open champion is gambling with a heavier headed racket here in the first tournament of the 2012 tour, even though he has had little more than a week to get used to the change.

One night after missing an uncontested layup to equalize in the last seconds, Italy's Danilo Gallinari scored 20 points to lead the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 99-90 on Sunday.

Ty Lawson added 17 points and 10 assists while Brazil's Nene contributed 13 for the Nuggets, who improved to 3-2 while the Lakers fell to 3-3.

NBA superstar LeBron James is engaged to marry long-time girlfriend Savannah Brinson, who accepted his proposal at a lavish New Year's Eve dinner party in Miami.

Brinson was the high school sweetheart of the Miami Heat playmaker and is the mother of James' two sons, seven-year-old LeBron Jnr and four-year-old Bryce.

Real Madrid and Barcelona can set the stage for another pair of "clasicos" by beating Malaga and Osasuna when Spanish football returns from its annual winter break this week with the Copa del Rey's round of 16.

Madrid and Barcelona both play their first leg at home, and big victories there would all but end their opponents' hopes of pulling off an upset in the return match.

Serena Williams says she has fallen out of love with tennis despite recording an impressive comeback win over Chanelle Scheepers in the first round of the Brisbane International on Monday.

Playing her first match since losing the U.S. Open final to Samantha Stosur in August, Williams showed why she is the most feared player in the draw as she outgunned Scheepers 6-2, 6-3.

Kim Clijsters began preparation for the defense of her Australian Open singles title with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Romania's Simona Halep in the first round of the Brisbane International on Sunday.

Clijsters beat China's Li Na in the final at last year's opening Grand Slam at Melbourne Park. This year's Australian Open begins Jan. 16.

Novak Djokovic showed he remains the player to beat in 2012, routing David Ferrer 6-2, 6-1 Saturday to win the World Tennis Championship exhibition tournament.

The top-ranked Djokovic also beat Gael Monfils and then routed Roger Federer en route to his first Abu Dhabi title.

Arsenal's injury-plagued Belgian international central defender Thomas Vermaelen has been ruled out of Monday's Premier League match with Fulham.

The 26-year-old Belgian national captain - who missed most of last season through injury - strained a calf in the 1-0 win over QPR on Saturday.

British tennis fans longing for their first male Grand Slam winner since Fred Perry in 1936 will be hoping the unlikely figure of Ivan Lendl can help break the country's long title drought.

Lendl made a dramatic return to top flight tennis this week when Scotland's Andy Murray announced the former world No.1 had taken over as his fulltime coach with immediate effect.