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Tennis: Andy Murray to Face Rafael Nadal at ATP World Tour Finals
In tennis,
Andy Murray will be up against Rafael Nadal later tonight, with both hoping to book a place in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals.
Both Murray and Nadal won their previous matches in straight sets, meaning the winner of the match will book a place in the next round.
The other match tonight has David Ferrer against Stan Wawrinka.
Both of them need a decisive win if they hope to move on, as both lost their opening-round matches in straight-sets.
In action from London on Tuesday night,
Roger Federer is through to the semi-finals after upsetting world number one Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-2.
"Yes, I was very happy. I think I played a great match. Just was really good on my serve in the first set, played clutch when I had to from the baseline. In the second set, I think he wasn't as good as in the first set and I was able to take advantage of that which is not always easy against Novak because even then he can be very good and overall I'm very pleased. I think it was a great match from my side and obviously one I can build on for the rest of the tournament."
Federer's win brings Djokovic's 23-match unbeaten run to an end.
The defeat also ends Djokovic's run of 15 straight wins at the World Tour Finals, and will force him to down Tomas Berdych in straight-sets to ensure he can move through to the semi-finals, provided Kei Nishikori doesn't upset Roger Federer in straight sets in their last round-robin match.
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In action tonight at the WTA Challenger event taking place in Taipei.
A round-of-16 match tonight has China's Zhang Kailin is up against Belgium's Kristen Flipkens
Chen Long Advances at Hong Kong Open
In badminton,
After going down to Lee Chong-Wei in the final of China Open, Chinese badminton star Chen Long is looking to rebound with a victory at the Hong Kong Open.
The world number one has advanced to the second round of the tournament, knocking out India's Ajay Jayaram in straight sets.
China's Wang Zhengming has also progressed, upsetting second seeded Jan O Jorgensen 21-17, 21-12.
Later tonight,
Chinese veteran Lin Dan will take on a competitor from Indonesia.
On the women's side,
China's Li Xuerui has suffered a surprising defeat at the hands of Japan's Nozomi Okuhara.
The fifth seed is out after dropping her match 21-19, 21-9.
Football: African powers return to dominance to move into next WC qualifying round
In football,
Round 2 of African qualifying for Russia2018 is in the books.
After a number of first-match surprises, the dominant teams in the round have all returned to form to move through.
It was the top ranked team in Africa, Cote d'Ivoire, moving through after downing Liberia 3-nil this morning to go through 4-nil on aggregate.
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After being held to a 2-2 draw in their first match, it was 2nd-ranked Algeria hammering Tanzania 7-nil last night to easily move through.
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Ghana is also through after downing Comoros 2-nil this morning.
The islanders managed to hold the Black Stars to a nil-nil draw in the first leg.
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And Kenya's hope of moving on has been dashed, as they went down to 4th ranked Cape Verde 2-nil in the away-leg of their home-and-home after eeking out a 1-nil victory at home last week.
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Other clubs making it through to the 3rd round of World Cup qualifying from Africa include Libya, Cameroon, Nigeria, Congo, Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Mali.
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In South American qualifying,
It was Ecuador all-but-assuring that it will be in Russia in 2018 after downing Venezuela this morning in Caracas 3-1.
With that, Ecuador remains perfect in the South American round-robin with 4 straight wins, meaning the Ecuadorians need only a draw in their last two qualifiers to advance to the World Cup.
In other action, Uruguay remains in 2nd on the table after a resounding 3-nil win at home last night against Chile.
The loss keeps Chile at 7 points but drops them into 5th on the table after Brazil knocked off Peru 3-nil to jump into 3rd on the qualifying table.
Brazilian defender Miranda says this puts their squad into a good position heading into the final qualifying matches in March.
"I think our team is in a process of evolution. Today, one more time, we could show in the pitch a great performance. We know that this edition of the World Cup qualifiers are very tough and our team must be ready to face great opponents, always looking for a positive result."
In other South American action, Paraguay is into the 4th and final confirmed slot on the South American qualifying table with a 2-1 win at home against Bolivia.
And it was Argentina keeping its hopes alive of making it to Russia after blanking Columbia 1-nil.
The 4 top teams in South American qualifying move on to Russia, while 5th place has a playoff against the 3rd place team from CONCACAF to see who goes.
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In action last night from the Asian qualifiers,
The boys from the mainland still have an outside shot of making it into the next round, though their chances have been dealt a significant setback.
The Dragons held Hong Kong to a nil-nil draw last night.
Captian Zheng Zhi says the draw is disappointing.
"We had a lot of chances in the match, but we just weren't lucky. We hit the crossbar and the posts on a number of opportunities. Its a shame we couldn't walk away with a victory."
With the draw, the mainland squad still keeps pace with 2nd place Hong Kong in Group C.
Hong Kong has 14-points, while the mainland squad has 11.
However, but while the mainland side does have a shot at surpassing Hong Kong into 2nd in Group C, as Hong Kong has only one match left and the Dragons have two, the prospect of the mainland squad moving forward has been dimmed somewhat.
The Dragons need to win their last 2 matches against the Maldives and Qatar, the top team in their group, and get some help from outside the group, as only the 4 top 2nd-place teams from the 8 groups will move on to the next round of World Cup Qualifying.
Basketball: Clippers remain perfect after downing Toronto
In basketball,
The Golden State Warriors' incredible run to start out the NBA season continues.
Golden State has moved to 12-0 on the season after holding off the Toronto Raptors 115-110 this afternoon.
Stephen Curry once-again leading Golden State with 37-points.
The Warriors need just 3-more wins to tie Yao Ming's 1993-94 Houston Rockets team for the best start in NBA history at 15-0.
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In other action,
It was Denver over New Orleans 115-98.
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Detroit handed Cleveland it's 2nd loss in-a-row, dumping LeBron and 104-99 at home.
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The Knicks spoiled Jeremy Lin's return to face his old club for the first time in a Charlotte uniform, as New York downed the Hornets 102-94 at MSG.
Lin-sanity with 13-points in the loss.
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Across the bridge, it was Brooklyn with its 2nd win of the season, handing Atlanta it's 3rd loss in a row, 90-88.
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Washington hammered Milwaukee 115-86.
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And it was Minnesota all over Miami 103-91.
Hockey: LA wins 3rd in row to top Pacific
In action from the National Hockey League this morning,
The Los Angeles Kings have firmed up their hold on 1st in the Pacific Division with a 3-2 shootout win this morning over Philadelphia.
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It was Dallas over Buffalo 3-1.
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San Jose edged Boston 5-4.
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It was Columbus surprising St. Louis 3-1.
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Toronto slapped around Colorado 5-1.
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Pittsburgh topped Minnesota 4-3.
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Nashville held off visiting Anaheim 3-2.
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And it was Calgary getting past New Jersey 3-2.
