Agassi picks Nadal as all-time best

SINGAPORE: Andre Agassi has picked Rafael Nadal ahead of Grand Slam record-holder Roger Federer when asked to choose the best player in tennis history, a report said on Thursday.

The American, putting a new slant on one of the sport's great debates, said he prefers Nadal because the Spaniard has thrived in an ultra-competitive "golden age of tennis".

"I'd put Nadal number one, Federer number two," the eight-time Grand Slam-winner told Singapore's Straits Times in an interview.

"Federer separated himself from the field for four years. He separated himself from (Andy) Roddick and (Lleyton) Hewitt," Agassi added.

"Nadal had to deal with Federer, (Novak) Djokovic, (Andy) Murray in the golden age of tennis. He has done what he has done and he's not done yet."

Conventional wisdom ranks Federer ahead of Nadal, as the Swiss holds a record 17 Grand Slam titles against 13 for the current world number one.

But Nadal has a convincing 23-10 head-to-head record against Federer and is one Australian Open victory away from becoming only the third man to win all four Grand Slam titles twice.

"He has won multiple (majors), every single one (more than once) except the Australian Open -- and give him another year on that," Agassi said.

"It's just remarkable to me what he has done, and he has done it all during Federer's prime."

Agassi added that he did not discount Australia's Rod Laver, two-time winner of the calendar-year Grand Slam, when rating the greatest player of all time.

And he confirmed he would play in the Singapore leg of the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) after the dates were rejigged to avoid Thanksgiving -- as long as the event goes ahead.

"It seems like it's all happening. I just can't make any promises I can't control. What I can't control (is) if (the event) really exists or not," he said.

"But if it's happening, I'm absolutely going to be there and I will spend time leading up (to the event) playing."

Agassi had initially balked at playing on Thanksgiving weekend, but Singapore is now due to host the IPTL from December 2-4, according to the report.

Despite a player draft in March, some details of the made-for-TV, four-stop competition remain murky.

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Louis Van Gaal wants Man United job

LONDON: Louis Van Gaal said Wednesday he wants to be the new manager of Manchester United.

"I would love the job," the Netherlands boss, speaking at the start of a three-day Dutch World Cup training camp," told the BBC on Wednesday.

"I hope that I shall be the one," added van Gaal, who also said United were the "biggest club in the world".

The 62-year-old has long been the leading candidate to become the next full-time manager of the struggling English champions since United sacked David Moyes.

United, who have failed to qualify for next term's Champions League, are currently under the caretaker charge of 40-year-old club great Ryan Giggs, still an active player.

Sunday sees United play their final Premier League game of the season, away to Southampton, and there have been several reports in the British press that van Gaal will be announced as their new full-time manager next week.

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Sania-Cara knocked out of Madrid Open

MADRID: Sania Mirza and Cara Black gave a scare to top seeds Su-Wei Hsieh and Shuai Peng before losing the women's doubles quarterfinal at the WTA Madrid Open on Thursday.

The fifth seeded Indo-Zimbabwean pair lost 7-5, 1-6, 8-10 to the Taipei-Chinese team in one hour and 30 minutes in the euro 3,671,405 clay court tournament.

There was not much to separate the two pairs as the Portugal Open winners won 62 points to 67 of their top seeded rivals.

Sania and Cara converted four break chances while Hsieh and Peng broke them five times in the match which was decided via a thrilling Super Tie-Breaker.

Sania and Cara split euro 27,270 as prize money and earned 215 ranking points each.

Indian challenge is still alive in the tournament as Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, seeded eighth, have been given a bye in the first round of the men's doubles.

They face Italian Andreas Seppi and big serving Canadian Milas Raonic in the pre-quarterfinals.

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McLaren 'miles' behind Mercedes: Button

BARCELONA: Jenson Button believes his McLaren team are "miles behind" pace-setting rivals Mercedes and have no chance of catching them in this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

He said on Thursday that he thinks it will be "months" before any other team has a chance to catch and match the pace and performance of front-runners Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

"We're miles behind the Mercedes, but we're in a good little scrap with five other teams," Button told reporters.

"We're not worried about later in the season. We feel we can develop faster than most teams.

"We're adding updates to the car all the time, some bigger than others, but I think for any team to find a second is a big ask over the next couple of races.

"And that's with Mercedes standing still. And they're not going to do that. It's going to be tough and we've got to be realistic about it.

"Some people might over-deliver and we might see in two or three races that we're able to fight them, but I think it would be very impressive for any team to achieve that."

Drivers championship leader Rosberg and his teammate Hamilton have dominated the opening four races of 2014 for Mercedes.

McLaren, who took second and third in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix thanks to strong drives from Kevin Magnussen and Button, have slipped back since that promising start.

Button finished a lap behind Briton Hamilton, the 2008 champion, at the Chinese Grand Prix and Dane Magnussen has also struggled.

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Nadal marches into Madrid Open last 8

MADRID: World number one Rafael Nadal remained on course to retain his Madrid Masters title with a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 win over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen on Thursday.

Nadal had come into the tournament looking to dispel doubts after suffering shock defeats to David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open respectively.

However, he has looked in fine form in the Spanish capital as he has booked his place in the last eight for the loss of just six games in two matches and will play sixth seed Tomas Berdych in the last eight.

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Serena powers past Shuai in Madrid

MADRID: World number one Serena Williams cruised into the last 16 of the Madrid Open on Wednesday with a 6-2, 6-3 thrashing of China's Peng Shuai.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion powered through the first set against the world number 42 for the loss of just one point on her own serve.

Peng showed more resistence in the second, but couldn't convert on two break points and Williams needed just one chance to seal the only break of the set before serving out the match to set up a third round meeting with Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro or fellow American Alison Riske.

Fourth seed Simona Halep also had a comfortable passage into round three as she saw off Spain's Lara Arruabarrena 6-4, 6-4.

"This tournament means a lot for me, because the last year it was a real turning point for me. I'm really happy that I could win today in two sets to be in third round here," said the Romanian who could face compatriot Irina-Camelia Begu next should she overcome 15th seed Sabine Lisicki.

In the men's Masters tournament, sixth seed Thomas Berdych stretched his perfect record against South African Kevin Anderson to 11-0 with a 6-1, 6-4 win.

"I always like to play here. The courts are great, very well prepared. It's a bit faster because of the altitude, which suits my game well and means I can serve well and play aggressively," said the Czech.

"I think we have similar games, but I can always find something extra and that's the difference. It's also probably a mental thing as well now."

Polish lucky loser Lukasz Kubot made the most of Roger Federer's withdrawal to be at the birth of his twin sons on Tuesday by beating Frenchman Gilles Simon 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

Latvia's Ernests Gulbis also moved into round three with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Ukrainian Alexandr Golgopolov.

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Sania-Cara move to Madrid quarters

MADRID: Fifth seeds Sania Mirza and Cara Black had little problem in dispatching Hao-Ching Chan and Chanelle Scheepers as they scored a comfortable straight sets victory to progress to the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.

The Indo-Zimbabwean team defeated the Taipei-Protea pair 6-4, 6-1 in little over an hour in the second round contest of the euro 3,671,405 clay court tournament.

Sania and Cara, winner of the Portugal Open last week, raced to 4-1 lead but Chan and Scheepers reduced the margin to make it 3-4.

However, the Taeipei-Chinese pair could not sustain the momentum as Sania and Cara proved too good for them.

Sania and Cara will now fight it with either wild card entrants Italian Francesca Schiavone and her Spanish partner Silvia Soler-Espinosa or the top seeds Su-Wei Hsieh from Taipei and Shuai Peng of China.

Sania and Cara have moved to third place in the Race to Singapore, where the year-end finals will be played in November.

World number one team Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci are heading the table with 3430 points, followed by Elena Vesnina and Ekaternia Makarova (2266) and Sania and Cara (2247).

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Dada's team named Atletico de Kolkata

KOLKATA: The Kolkata franchise of the much-anticipated Indian Super League was on Wednesday christened Atletico de Kolkata, taking a cue from their Spanish co-owners and UEFA Champions League finalist Atletico de Madrid.

Owner and CEO of the Champions League finalist Miguel Angel Gil Marin along with his city based co-owners former India captain Sourav Ganguly, industrialists Harsh Neotia, Sanjiv Goenka and Utsav Parekh unveiled the team but said they were yet to finalise the jersey as it has to get an approval of the ISL.

There's also a proposal to get the Atletico Madrid squad to play a friendly match here once the city team is formed.

"We are also looking for a pre-season training in Madrid for the Kolkata franchise," Neotia said.

Also unveiling the name of the consortium as the Kolkata Games and Sports Private Limited, the five partners pledged to take Indian football to the next level.

"Atletico breathes football, lives around football. It's a great idea to expand our brand and reach a new market. India are China are huge markets. Atletico also collaborates in different countries through Alteitco de Madrid foundation. We will try to support many kids who want to develop football.

"We are trying two different ways, one through academy and another side through the franchise and play professional football," Miguel said handing over an official La Liga football with autographs of the team members.

The Atletico officials also handed each of the four city owners their official Atletico Madrid jerseies with their respective names but a common number of 19 -- which belongs to their most popular player and captain Diego Costa.

"It will be a proud moment for us if we can take the Indian football to where it belongs. It will be a great moment for us if one day a Kolkata footballer is able to represent Atletico Madrid. We are planning to build an academy here and give them a window of an opportunity," Ignacio Aguillo, director of corporate development at Atletico, said.

Ganguly said, "Our club will try and bring together the best talent to form a team with the driving thought of 'playing to win'. Kolkata has been central to football in our country and our objective is to ensure that we re-gain the position.

"This time round, the difference will be to give football audiences a level of play which is par international and creates a pride and passion similar to what we see for global leagues and tournaments."

Asked why they chose to invest in a country whose ranking hovers around 150 and FIFA had termed them a 'sleeping giant', Aguillo said: "You have a massive population and if you combine that with passion and discipline, you are bound to have results. We have seen that in many countries."

Giving example of world champions Spain, he said: "They don't have population but they have achieved with the right infrastructure and discipline. There is no reason why India can't live up to its true potential. It's numbers game at the end of the day."

Terming this a new beginning, former India captain Ganguly said: "We all grew up kicking a football. I'm sure it's same with a lot of kids in the state. It's a beginning of something different, give a push to the city. This will revolutionise football in this part of the world.

"We always had the passion but did not have the talent to match the passion for the game. I thank Atletico Madrid to be a part of us. We hope they liked the city at first sight."

Ganguly further wished Atletico all the best for the Champions League final and the Spanish League in which they're leading the table.

"I also congratulate them for the wonderful season they had. They have a very very important month in front of them. From all of us and, the entire Kolkata wants you do well.

"We want them to be champions so that we start the season saying we're already champions. Good luck for that. We are extremely proud to have you with us."

Asked how he sees the intiative vis-a-vis the hugely popular IPL in cricket, Ganguly said: "We don't want to compete. We just want to play. We want to bring football to Kolkata. Kolkata is the place for football besides Kerala and Goa. We want cricket to be as popular as it is but at the same time we want to develop football as well.

"I don't think two popular things can't go together. The standard of football has to be good and I am sure popularity will follow," Ganguly said.

Briefing about their discussions, Neotia said the members said they were okay with the infrastructure in Saltlake Stadium and Barasat Stadium on the northern outskirts.

"They feel the foundation is appropriate to build on the stadium. We should not have any difficulty in hosting any match in the present infrastructure."

"We hope to get support from state government. But with elections, we are yet to talk to the state government."

"On coach, our desire is that the main coach be from Atletico, but we need an approval of ISL. If they approve then there would be a second coach from India with working experience in our country. We have met some people, discussions are going on."

"We are seeking clarity on players. The Spanish team will be happy to provide players if FIFA and ISL approve of it. We have requested Atletico.

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Nadal strolls past Monaco into last 16

MADRID: World number one Rafael Nadal dismissed lingering doubts over his recent form with a resounding 6-1, 6-0 win over Juan Monaco to reach the third round of the Madrid Masters on Wednesday.

Monaco failed to win a game on serve all match as Nadal, who suffered shock defeats in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, rolled off 10 straight games to seal victory in little over an hour.

He now meets Finland's Jarkko Nieminen. "Obviously once you lose a match it takes a bit longer to find the confidence in your movement and your shots," admitted the 13-time Grand Slam champion.

"Once it went to 4-1 in the first set I felt I played a lot better and I am happy with the way I felt on court today."

Nadal is the only top four seed remaining in the men's draw as Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer withdrew due to injury and family reasons respectively, while Stanislas Wawrinka lost to Austrian qualifier Dominic Thiem on Tuesday.

However, the Spaniard insists he has not been distracted by the draw appearing to open up perfectly for a fourth title in Madrid.

"In the past two tournaments I didn't get to the rounds where I would have played those players anyway.

"At this level all the opponents are difficult and next I will face Jarkko who has huge experience form being on the tour so many years.

"I congratulate Roger on becoming a father again and wish Novak the best in his recovery."

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No surprise as Scolari unveils WC squad

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil manager Luiz Felipe Scolari on Wednesday unveiled the 23 men he trusts can deliver a sixth World Cup ahead of this year's event starting June 12 on home soil.

Having already led the most successful nation in the tournament's history to their fifth title in Japan in 2002, Scolari is now out to lay the ghosts of 1950, when the Selecao lost the trophy match to Uruguay in Rio.

His list contained no major surprises, although Milan forward Robinho (92 caps) missed the cut along with former world players of the year Ronaldinho (97 caps) and Kaka (87 caps), an echo of his decision to dump Romario more than a decade ago.

Robinho missed the cut despite facing Chile in a recent friendly. With Scolari having said for months he knew in his own mind who he wanted to pick, save for one or two exceptions, the focus was on who would provide back-up for a first eleven who saw off world champions Spain in last year's Confederations Cup warm-up.

For the defensive second string, Paris St Germain's Maxwell edged out Atletico Madrid's Filipe Luis, while veteran defender Maicon won out at the expense of Bayern Munich's Rafinha, even though the latter had played in a March friendly romp against South Africa.

Henrique of Napoli, fresh from lifting the Coppa Italia, also claimed a berth while in the middle, Scolari completed his contingent with Manchester City's Fernandinho and also Inter Milan's Hernanes.

Scolari had already named as his four captains defensive linchpins Tiago Silva and David Luiz, veteran striker Fred of Fluminense and goalkeeper Julio Cesar, despite Cesar now playing in Major League Soccer with Toronto FC.

In 2002, Scolari preferred a 3-4-3 line up with Ronaldo at its apex. But now he and technical coordinator Carlos Alberto Parreira will likely base their hopes on a 4-2-3-1 permutation with the idea that star man Neymar of Barcelona can enjoy a free role.

Just four of the players are with Brazilian clubs -- reserve keepers Jefferson and Victor and strikers Fred and Jo, the latter who had brief spells in England with Manchester City and Everton.

Scolari could have named 30 players before later trimming them back by June 2.

But the Brazilian Football Confederation had indicated ahead of Wednesday he was happy to name his final squad now in readiness for group games against Croatia, Mexico and Cameroon.

Scolari will now welcome his selection at the end of May to the refurbished Granja Comary training complex outside the rural town of Teresopolis around an hour north of Rio.

He will then oversee a June 3 friendly against Panama at Goiana and a final warm-up against Serbia three days later at the Morumbi stadium in Sao Paulo before the Cup starts at the Corinthians Arena on July 12.

Brazil squad:
Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Toronto FC/CAN), Jefferson (Botafogo), Victor (Atletico Mineiro)

Defenders: Dante (Bayern Munich/GER), David Luiz (Chelsea/ENG), Henrique (Napoli/ITA), Thiago Silva (PSG), Daniel Alves (Barcelona/ESP), Maicon (Roma/ITA), Marcelo (Real Madrid/ESP), Maxwell (Paris St Germain/FRA)

Midfielders: Fernandinho (Manchester City/ENG), Hernanes (Inter Milan/ITA), Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg/GER), Oscar (Chelsea/ENG), Paulinho (Tottenham/ENG), Ramires (Chelsea/ENG), Willian (Chelsea/ENG)

Strikers: Bernard (Shakhtar Donetsk/UKR), Fred (Fluminense), Hulk (Zenit Saint-Petersburg/RUS), Jo (Atletico Mineiro), Neymar (Barcelona/ESP)

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