World number one Rafael Nadal battled back from losing the first set against 239th-ranked Ivo Karlovic to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells.

The Spanish top seed on Thursday clinched a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (9/7) win on his third match point in the third set tiebreak when the Croatian smacked a forehand long to end the match lasting nearly two-and-a-half hours.

French Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno said on Thursday that she hopes France coach Laurent Blanc does not recall Franck Ribery and Patrice Evra for the country's forthcoming matches.

Ribery and Evra received bans of three and five games respectively for their roles in the France squad's mutiny at last year's World Cup in South Africa and have not played for Les Bleus since the end of the tournament.

Novak Djokovic extended his match win streak to 16 and Roger Federer barely broke a sweat as they powered their way into the Indian Wells fourth round with straight-set wins.

Djokovic on Tuesday capped his 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Ernests Gulbis with back-to-back aces and Federer had an equally easy time ousting Juan Ignacio Chela 6-0, 6-2 in the $9 million WTA and ATP Masters Series 1000 tournament.

John Terry has warned Chelsea's European rivals that his side are finally in the right frame of mind to fight for Champions League glory.

Carlo Ancelotti's team had been stuck in a rut for several months as injuries and poor form derailed their attempt to retain the Premier League title, but they have rediscovered their momentum just in time to push for victory in Europe's elite club competition.

Asian football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam on Tuesday declined to reveal whether he would challenge Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency but promised to make an announcement this week.

The president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has dropped repeated hints in the past two months that he may stand, writing on microblogging site Twitter on Monday that he will "clarify" his position on Friday.

In a gym at Kabul's main stadium, where the Taliban used to publicly execute women accused of adultery, female Afghan boxers hoping to make it to the London 2012 Olympics are practicing their jabs.

Some wearing headscarves, all in tracksuits, the slightly built young women pummel four heavy old punchbags hard, moving fast and light on their feet while their male trainer barks instructions.

German, Spanish and Italian league leaders Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, AC Milan made uncharacteristic slip-ups at the weekend, with varying consequences to their title hopes.

Bundesliga trailblazers Dortmund fell to only their third defeat of the season, a 1-0 reverse to Hoffenheim; Barcelona were held 1-1 by Sevilla, and Milan suffered the same fate against Bari.

Former champions Jelena Jankovic and Kim Clijsters cruised into the third round by posting straight-set victories Friday at the WTA and ATP Masters 1000 event.

World No. 2 Clijsters, who won in 2005 and 2003, swept past Russian Alla Kudryavtseva with a dominating 6-2, 6-0 victory in the second round of the hard-court tournament.

Argentina's David Nalbandian will undergo surgery for a hernia problem and a torn adductor muscle on Thursday and will be out of action for two months, a member of his entourage said Wednesday.

The world number 19 aggravated the problem playing in the Davis Cup last weekend which saw the South Americans advance past Romania 4-1 to the quarter-finals of the World Group.

Real Madrid hopes to offload its injury-plagued Brazilian star Kaka in the summer close season, although he still has four years left on his contract, a Spanish sports daily said Wednesday.

The 28-year-old midfielder, signed from AC Milan in 2009 for 65 million euros, underwent surgery on his left knee on August 5 and only returned to training in December.