Nadal beats Djokovic in Montreal semis

Rafael Nadal held off Novak Djokovic in three tense sets on Saturday and will now try to stop Canadian Milos Raonic from making more tennis history at the Montreal Masters.

Fourth seed Nadal, winner of the event in 2005 and 2008, defeated top seed and two-time defending champion Djokovic 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-2) to reach his 10th final of the season.

Raonic, meanwhile, became the first Canadian into the tournament's final since 1958, when Robert Bedard won it.

Raonic booked his place with a 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-4) victory over compatriot Vasek Pospisil, and with the win ensured he'll be the first Canadian ever to reach the top 10 in the ATP world rankings.

Raonic will have his work cut out against Nadal. The Spaniard has won all three of their prior encounters, including two on hard courts.

Nadal's two-hour, 20-minute struggle with Djokovic was a tight affair, with small margins determining victory.

Nadal dominated the third-set tiebreaker, taking a 6-0 lead. Djokovic saved two match points before falling.

"I tried my best in the tiebreaker," said Nadal, winner of seven titles this season. "I had to hit some fantastic shots to compete well against a big player like Novak. I'm very, very satisfied."

Nadal let the second set slip as he lost the eighth game from a position of strength, letting go of a 40-0 lead to drop serve and trail 3-5.

"You cannot let up against the top players for even a minute," said Nadal, whose 57 career titles include a dozen grand slams.

Nadal has now won two of three meetings with world No.1 Djokovic this year, including a five-set thriller in the semi-finals of the French Open, just weeks after Djokovic had taken the Spaniard's Monte Carlo crown in the final.

Djokovic's defeat ended a 13-match win streak in Canada for the Serbian, who also won the title in 2007 before his back-to-back triumphs in 2011 and 2012.

"I had my chances. He had his chances. At the end he played better," Djokovic said.

"I made a lot of double faults, which I couldn't explain."

Raonic was the winner in the first ATP semi-final between Canadians since Martin Wostenholme beat Andrew Sznajder in Rio de Janeiro 23 years ago.

"The top 10 stands out because it's a goal that I set out this year," he said. "To be able to do it here in Montreal is pretty amazing."

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Bale mystery injury may keep him out of Wales friendly with Ireland

Gareth Bale will report for training with Wales this week - but is understood to be reluctant to 

risk his fitness by playing for his country while his future remains in the balance.

Talks between Tottenham and Real Madrid over his career are due to resume later this week.

His transfer is still expected to go through before the window closes and could even be concluded by next weekend.

'Gareth has been instructed to report for international duty,' said AVB last night. 

'He has been training alone and working with our medical department, and we will make sure they pass all the relevant information across to the Wales team.

'Will he play for Wales? That's not up to me.' 

Yet Wales may tread a diplomatic path and pull Bale out of the friendly to avoid causing their star any embarrassment. But no one foresees him turning out for Spurs in the near future. 

All roads lead to Spain - even if he must negotiate Wales first. 

Spurs fans did not chant Bale's name or parade banners pleading with him to stay as Tottenham drew 1-1 with Espanyol on Saturday.

It was as though the Welshman had never been king of White Hart Lane.

In any event, the club may have a new hero - and he wears No 9.

It took £26 million club record signing Roberto Soldado just 28 minutes and 39 seconds to open his account for Tottenham. 

He may not have Bale's extraordinary physique, pace and athleticism, but the Spaniard is a threat and he has the quiet confidence to become a Premier League match-winner.

Soldado and the other new signings, Paulinho and Nacer Chadli, received a rapturous reception before the match. 

Paulinho had an early downward header into goal disallowed for offside. 

But it was Soldado who broke the deadlock from the penalty spot.

Danny Rose was upended by Javi Lopez just inside the box, and Soldado netted crisply into the corner.

'It is always important to score a goal and I hope this was the first of many,' said Soldado. 

Chadli was quiet on the left of midfield, a reminder that Bale is irreplaceable. 

Espanyol danger man David Lopez equalised with a thumping header just before half-time, exposing deficiencies at the centre of the Tottenham defence. 

Skipper Michael Dawson said: 'The new signings are going to improve us. It was great for Roberto to get his goal. We're looking forward to the start of the season.'

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Oak Hill Diary: Donaldson forced to withdraw after suffering back injury

Sad to see Jamie Donaldson having to withdraw following a first-round 80 after suffering a back injury. 

Sometimes these injuries seem terribly convenient, but Donaldson once took a year off with back problems and was told he would never play again. 

Let’s hope this injury is of the twinge variety.

There are one-major wonders — and then there is Shaun Micheel.

It was 10 years ago when he hit one of the greatest shots in Grand Slam history to win the  US PGA here at Oak Hill.

Now look at the poor bloke.

Never mind the PGA Tour, the 44-year-old American hasn’t made a cut all year on the reserve circuit and is ranked outside the top 1,000 players in the world. That US PGA title remains his only victory, and one that got him into this event, where he shot a first-round 76.

And yet Micheel is a better player than Lee Westwood because he has a major title to his 

name?

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Guardiola ready to make changes needed at Bayern

Pep Guardiola has highlighted the improvements still needed to be made in his Bayern Munich side after their 3-1 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach kicked off the new Bundesliga season.

Guardiola took charge of his first Bundesliga game as Bayern coach on Friday at Munich's Allianz Arena and spent 71 of the 90 minutes barking instructions from the sidelines.

Goals by Dutch winger Arjen Robben, Croatia's Mario Mandzukic and Austria's David Alaba gave defending German champions Bayern three points at home on Friday night.

But the Spaniard then presented an extensive list of areas Bayern must improve -- something of concern for the club's senior figures, who have set high standards.

"We didn't always press well, gave Gladbach too much time, our counter-attacks weren't always well controlled and when we lost the ball, we didn't always get back into position straight away," said Guardiola.

Bayern leaked just 18 goals last season -- a record low in the Bundesliga -- but goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had a busy night against Gladbach.

"I had lots and lots to do," admitted the Germany 'keeper who is more used to quieter evenings when Bayern dominated last season.

Part of the problem stems from Bayern's new system, with Guardiola having discarded the 4-2-3-1 formation which won the treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup.

Instead, Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger is being used as a single defensive midfielder in front of the back four, but as Friday night showed, it can leave big holes.

"Pep isn't a magician," admitted Bayern's director of sport Matthias Sammer, but Guardiola's team is clearly not yet comfortable with the new system.

Guardiola admits he still struggles to express himself to his players -- and hinted the 4-1-4-1 system could be abandoned.

"Sometimes it's difficult to explain to the players, in my German, what I want," he said.

"I like the system, but maybe in the future I have to adapt to my players and change it.

"I would have no problem with that."

As France winger Franck Ribery succinctly put it: "For the first game it was okay, but we need to improve".

In fairness, Guardiola has had just eight weeks to work with his players since succeeding treble-winning Jupp Heynckes, even less with others.

Brazil centre-back Dante, who conceded an own-goal just before the half-time break against Gladbach, and Spain's Javi Martinez both came into preparations late after Confederations Cup duty.

And Schweinsteiger also joined pre-season training late after an ankle operation.

"I am not responsible for the tactics, but at the moment some players still need to catch up," said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

"Especially the Confederations Cup participants as Dante or Javi Martinez, but Bastian Schweinsteiger is still not at 100 percent. We will surely become stronger."

Guardiola has often acknowledged the pressure he is under at Bayern and it has been made clear they expect to win the treble again this season.

Sammer has directly said the Bavarian giants expect to become the first team to defend the Champions League title.

"At Bayern, there is always pressure, so it might not be bad if Pep gets used to it directly," added Rummenigge.

"He can't do anything about the hype around him, neither can the club.

"He is clearly very interesting for the media, but that's not a problem, we can handle it."

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Fly Mo! Farah adds 10,000m World Championship crown to Olympic title with thrilling victory in Moscow

Mo Farah underlined his status as Great Britain’s greatest ever distance runner by winning the world 10,000 metres title in Moscow.

The double Olympic champion exacted revenge over Ibrahim Jeilan in a pulsating race, taking the lead with two laps to go and refusing to relinquish his lead as he won his fourth global gold medal.

No Briton has ever achieved that feat and, with the chance to retain his world 5,000m title still to come this week, Farah could yet add more gold to his impressive collection.

Two years in Daegu he was passed by Jeilan with metres remaining; a look of pure agony consuming Farah’s face as he realised he would have to settle for silver. He responded by winning 5,000m gold and both Olympic titles and, in 2013, it was the Briton looking over his shoulder at the man from Ethiopia behind him.

Farah won in 27mins 21.71secs, a 54.49sec last lap proving too much for Jeilan, who took silver, and bronze medallist Paul Kipngetich Tanui from Kenya, who did most of the early running.

A delighted Farah told the BBC: ‘I had the experience from a couple of years ago and this time I saw him (Jeilan) coming at the bell so I knew he was always behind me so it was important I had something left and it was nice to win it and beat him this time after finishing second (in 2011).

‘I nearly went down a couple of times but thank God I didn’t go down and I just managed to cover every move. It was important that it was me and my training partner Galen Rupp working together. We knew from the pace that the guys knew we’ve got speed so they were going out there to take a lot out of me.

‘I didn’t want to lose again. I remember a couple of years ago I was second and I was just digging in, digging in and making sure I didn’t over-stride, that important. I kept looking across and you could see in my eyes, just making sure they didn’t come after me.

‘It was nice to come out here and win it. That was the one missing. It was definitely well worth it.’

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Dortmund debutant Aubameyang claims hat-trick

New-signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit a hat-trick as Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund kicked off their Bundesliga season with an emphatic 4-0 win at Augsburg on Saturday.

With defending champions Bayern Munich, under new coach Pep Guardiola, having already enjoyed a 3-1 win at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach on Friday, 24-year-old Gabon forward Aubameyang showed why Dortmund paid French Cup winners St Etienne 13 million euros (US$17.3m) for him.

He opened his account by heading home a Marcel Schmelzer cross from the left wing to put Dortmund ahead after 24 minutes.

Aubameyang celebrated with his trademark forward somersault, then doubled Dortmund's advantage when he slipped his marker and fired home across the goal on 66 minutes.

The Gabon star then converted a great pass from Robert Lewandowski on 79 minutes to wrap up his hat-trick before the Poland striker converted a penalty in the dying stages.

South Korea striker Heung-Min Son also scored on his first competitive appearance for Champions League side Bayer Leverkusen in their 3-1 win at home to Freiburg.

Germany striker Stefan Kiessling put the hosts ahead with 22 minutes gone, but Freiburg's new signing Mike Hanke levelled just before the break.

Son restored Leverkusen's lead just two minutes after the break when he fired home from close range after a final pass from Sidney Sam.

Germany midfielder Sam then converted Kiessling's cross to seal the win with 52 minutes gone, while Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno protected his side's lead when he saved a 67th-minute penalty from Jonathan Schmid.

Hertha Berlin marked their return to the top-flight after a year's absence with a 6-1 rout of Eintracht Frankfurt.

Colombia striker Adrian Ramos and Tunisia forward Sami Allagui both scored twice in the hammering at Berlin's Olympic Stadium while a first-half penalty from Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Alex Meier was all the guests could muster.

Hanover 96 enjoyed a 2-0 win over Wolfsburg, who finished with nine men after both midfielder Maximilian Arnold and Swiss defender Timm Klose were sent off.

Arnold was shown a straight red card with just 32 minutes gone for a bad tackle on Hanover's Tunisia defender Karim Haggui, while Klose was sent off seven minutes after the break for his second yellow card.

Hoffenheim were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Nuremberg.

Later Saturday, newly-promoted Eintracht Braunschweig host Werder Bremen while, on Sunday, Mainz host Stuttgart and Hamburg are at Schalke.

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Murray loses to Gulbis in straight sets as Wimbledon champion bows out of Montreal Masters

Andy Murray’s post-Wimbledon return came to an abrupt end when he was caught  cold by the aggressive play of world No 38 Ernests Gulbis in the third round of the Rogers Cup.

The 26-year-old Scot suffered his first defeat in 13 matches, a sequence going back to the start of the grasscourt season, as he struggled to deal with the relentless slapping of the ball from the other end. 

He lost 6-4, 6-3 in 88 minutes in his second match since lifting the trophy at Wimbledon.

This result will cause no panic whatsoever in the Murray camp but it represents a missed opportunity to make up some ground on Novak Djokovic in the rankings as he had scant points to defend from the same event last year.

For Murray it is all about peaking for the US Open that begins two weeks on Monday and he has been training hard this week after taking a fortnight off to absorb his success a month ago.

He could not disrupt the rhythm of one of the game’s biggest baseline groundstrokers, and lost the first set after being broken at 4-5.

He got a time violation early in the second set and could not recover, even after breaking back for 2-3 in the second.

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United leave Rooney OUT of Community Shield despite being named in Hodgson's England squad

Disgruntled Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has been left out of the squad for the Community Shield game against Wigan because of a shoulder injury.

The 27-year-old has been training with the reserves this week and was also picked in the England squad to play Scotland on Wednesday.

Rooney has only played 45 minutes of pre-season and that was a behind-closed-doors friendly against Real Betis.

Rooney had written a personal thank you to England manager Roy Hodgson after including him in the national squad.

He said: 'Can’t wait to join up with the England squad and hopefully play in a competitive match, they always are against Scotland. 

'Big thanks to Roy Hodgson for selecting me and showing his faith and support, appreciate it.'

His lack of match sharpness may hinder his chances of playing, and will definitely put him several weeks behind his fellow Manchester United players, or anyone else for that matter, when the Premier League season gets underway.

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Novak Djokovic to face Rafael Nadal in Rogers Cup semi-final

world number one Novak Djokovic secured a semi-final with Rafael Nadal at the Rogers Cup in Montreal with a 6-1 6-2 victory over Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

Djokovic required only 52 minutes to eliminate the world number nine and called his performance "as close to perfection as you can be really".

Nadal, who leads Djokovic 20-15 in previous meetings, beat Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic 6-2 6-4.

Canadians Vasek Pospisil and Milos Raonic meet in the other semi-final.

Nadal beat Djokovic 9-7 in the fifth set of an epic French Open semi-final lasting more than four-and-a-half hours in Paris two months ago.

Their last 11 meetings have been in finals, four of which were on hard courts similar to those in Montreal, and they were all won by Djokovic.

"Hard court is my most preferred surface. I feel that that's maybe the place where I have more chances against him than on clay definitely," said the Serb, 26.

Fourth seed Nadal admitted the hard courts would make Djokovic favourite to go through to the final.

"The conditions here are probably more favourable for him," said the 27-year-old Spaniard.

"Yes, we are playing on hard, but especially the conditions here. It's one of the fastest courts of the hard-court tournaments outdoors."

Meanwhile Raonic, the world number 13, kept his composure in front of a parochial home crowd as he overcame Andy Murray's conqueror Ernests Gulbis 7-6 4-6 6-4 in a two-and-a-half hour contest.

He now plays the 71st-ranked Pospisil, guaranteeing a Canadian finalist for the first time since Mike Belkin in 1969.

"It means a lot, not just to us, but to Canadian tennis," said Raonic. "It's an opportunity, a great, great moment. At the same time, it's another tennis match. That doesn't change."

Pospisil, who beat American John Isner and fifth seed Tomas Berdych this week in three sets, was given a rather lighter workout in the quarter-finals when opponent Nikolay Davydenko retired because of illness while trailing 3-0 in the first set.

"Two Canadians in the semi-final, one guaranteed to be in the final. It's a historic moment for tennis in Canada," said Pospisil.

"We know each other very well. Since we were little kids."

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Why Suarez is too good for Liverpool (and Arsenal)… and check out my retirement gift from Magic Messi

Luis Suarez is too good for Liverpool. He is one of the top players in the world, whereas Liverpool were only the seventh best team in England last season.

His talents are greater than the stage on which he plays. Not only does he deserve to play in the Champions League, he should be winning it.

Luis Suarez is also too good for Arsenal. In recent years, they haven’t challenged for trophies; they have not made an impact in the Champions League and they are no closer to winning the Premier League. 

If Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich wanted him, I would wish Luis all the luck in the world and staunchly defend him. That is his level; teams who have a great chance of winning the Champions League. That’s why I'm so puzzled by his determination to leave for the Emirates.

Liverpool have taken a firm line throughout this impasse and John W Henry was emphatic when saying Suarez will not be sold to the club's main rivals for fourth spot. Henry should be applauded by everyone in football for this stance. 

I do, though, have a growing sense of unease over how much Suarez has become unsettled. I took part in a training session at Melwood before Steven Gerrard's testimonial last Saturday and I was alarmed by the Luis Suarez with whom I was sharing a pitch.

From his first day at Liverpool, I had been used to seeing a warrior  who loved his football and charged around with great enthusiasm. Every day his skill would blow you away. Remember the 50-yard chipped goal at Norwich in April 2012? We saw him do that at Melwood long before. What impressed me most was his attitude. Training was as important as a game. He would leave nothing behind, competing for every ball as if his life depended on it.

On this occasion, however, his attitude was completely different. He didn’t want the ball and had no interest in getting involved. He stood on the periphery, with shoulders slumped.

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As Farah eyes double gold, GB chief says there's no stopping Mo in Moscow

It will take an ‘amazing performance’ to stop Mo Farah becoming Great Britain’s first 10,000m world champion in Moscow on Saturday, according to performance director Neil Black.

Two years ago in Daegu, South Korea, Farah was overtaken by Ethiopian Ibrahim Jeilan a few metres from the line, with a look of agony etched on his face as he was forced to settle for silver.

The Briton responded by winning the world 5,000m title, then did the double at the Olympic Games last year. A year on from his second gold in London, Farah is in sensational form, with another 10,000m and 5,000m double surely on the cards.

He has the stamina, having run half of the London Marathon in April in preparation for his full debut over that distance next year, and the speed. A 50.89sec last lap to win a 5,000m in Gateshead earlier this season and the British 1,500m record are testament to that.

There are 35 men in the 10,000m field, so the Ethiopian and Kenyan trios may be well advised to hurry the pace along on the blue track of the Luzhniki Stadium and try to string the field out. Farah tripping up may be the only way they can beat him.

Black said: ‘Mo will, without doubt, expect to win. It will take an amazing performance for that not to happen. He is in great shape.’

The man himself shares Black’s confidence. ‘The guys have seen me run fast and they’ll have to come up with something,’ said Farah.

Black declines to set medal targets —unlike the man in charge two years ago, Charles van Commenee — and would say only that British Athletics would ‘burn their ships’ as each athlete attempts to perform to the best of his or her ability. Matching the seven medals, including two golds, that Great Britain won in 2011, or even the six  medals — four of them golds — at London 2012 will, however, be a difficult task.

Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill is absent with an achilles injury, while world 400m hurdles gold medallist Dai Greene and Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford have been  hampered by calf and hamstring injuries respectively in the lead-up to this event. Black, a physiotherapist, said Rutherford’s recovery from a serious injury in Paris just five weeks ago ‘continues to mystify’, but said the 26-year-old is ‘full of confidence’ ahead of his qualification round on Wednesday.

Olympic high jump bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz has cleared 2.31 metres outdoors only once this season and looks a different, far less confident athlete to the one who equalled Steve Smith’s British outdoor record with 2.37m in Lausanne last August.

But Christine Ohuruogu, a silver medallist in London, has a real opportunity to regain the world 400m title she won in 2007.

The 29-year-old has always been an accomplished championship performer, peaking when it  matters most, and showed her hot streak of form by running 50sec flat — her fourth fastest time ever and quickest outside a major championships — to win the  London Anniversary Games two weeks ago. The athlete who took her Olympic title, Sanya Richards-Ross, has not made the USA team after undergoing toe surgery but Amantle Montsho, from Botswana, has broken the 50-second barrier four times already this season.

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Dominant Dufner breaks 71-year-old record and takes charge at US PGA Championship

A course record that had stood for over 70 years was broken by American Jason Dufner on a spectacular day of scoring at the US PGA Championship at venerable Oak Hill on Friday.

The undemonstrative American was visibly shaking as he stood over a 15ft putt on the final green to become the first man in major championship history to shoot 62. 

But he left the putt short, and so had to settle for the rather nice consolation prize of not only leading the season’s final major at halfway on nine under but also breaking the mark of 64 set here by Ben Hogan in 1942 and equalled by Curtis Strange in 1989. 

Dufner was not the only man to take advantage of greens that played like dartboards owing to the incessant morning rain. Justin Rose came home in just 29 shots for a 66 that has left him placed nicely at three behind and on the shoulder of Adam Scott, who lies one shot nearer the lead. It was the lowest nine hole score seen at this particular major for 18 years.

This was a dramatic day by any stretch, then, one where former US Open champion Webb Simpson leapt dramatically into contention with what was at the time a course record-equalling 64. Lee Westwood, alas, went the other way with a 73 while defending champion Rory McIlroy played his front nine like this year’ s persona and his back nine like last year’s to turn in markedly different halves of 39-32 for a 71.

At the heart of the morning’s action lay Scott and Rose, two of the great stylists of the modern age; two friends born within a fortnight of one another in 1980 who are determined not to win just one major each but make this their era.

It was in April that Scott sent Rose a text that has resonated throughout this major championship season. It read: ‘This is our time to win the big prizes.’ 

They’ve already claimed two out of the three staged, of course, with Scott ending an agonising 79-year wait to become the first Aussie to win the Masters in April and Rose the first Englishman to win the US Open in 43 years in June. Now Rose has the opportunity to become the first Englishman to win this event since Jim Barnes prevailed at the other end of New York state on Long Island way back in 1919.

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Moyes sets sights on Modric swoop after Fabregas snubs United switch

David Moyes is considering a move for Luka Modric with his pursuit of Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas over.

The Manchester United manager has a shortlist of options with the Real Madrid midfielder among them. 

Modric, 27, has been a target for United under Sir Alex Ferguson who lost out to Real Madrid last year.

He joined Madrid from Tottenham for £33m yet failed to make any real impression with La Liga fans voting him one of the worst signings of the summer.

However, then coach Jose Mourinho defended him citing a poor pre-season and Modric came back to make a telling contribution in Madrid’s Champions League defeat of United at Old Trafford.

Moyes has an interest in Everton’s Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines but understands they would not necessarily be the big-name signings United fans are craving for.

Keen to make the right decision Moyes is weighing up alternatives and Modric remains a viable option with Madrid willing to sell for around £25m.

The Spaniards would welcome the money with negotiations ongoing with Tottenham over a £100m deal for Gareth Bale although they would prefer to offload elder players such as 31-year-old Xabi Alonso.

Sevilla’s highly-rated French defensive midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia, 20, remains another name in Moyes’s mind but his priority is to bolster United’s attacking and creative options first.

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