Hot Djokovic denies No. 1 Nadal in epic Indian Wells final

Hot Djokovic denies No. 1 Nadal in epic Indian Wells final

(CNN) -- Novak Djokovic cemented his status as the hottest tennis player on the planet this year with a superb 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory over world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the final of the Masters Series event at Indian Wells on Sunday.

The Australian Open champion claimed Roger Federer's No. 2 ranking when he beat the 16-time grand slam champion for the third time in 2011 in Saturday's semifinals, and followed that up with his first win over Nadal since 2009.

The Serbian claimed the 21st title of his career, and his second at Indian Wells, as he avenged his 2007 final defeat to Nadal in the Californian desert in a match lasting two hours and 25 minutes.

The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since suffering a hamstring injury in his quarterfinal defeat in Melbourne in January, also beat Djokovic in the final of last year's U.S. Open to complete his career grand slam.

He was seeking to join Federer, Michael Chang and Jimmy Connors as the only players to win three times at Indian Wells.

And it looked like the 24-year-old was on course for his 46th ATP Tour title after clinching the first set after a vital break in the seventh game, as he served out to love.

But Djokovic, who had been punished on his second serve in the opener, battled back to take a 4-2 lead.

Nadal immediately broke back, but then lost his own serve again, and Djokovic finally leveled at 1-1 after his opponent hit wide of the line as he tried to save a sixth set-point.

Nadal's error rate grew alarmingly in the deciding set, and Djokovic romped to a 4-0 lead as his serve got stronger as the match went on to extend his unbeaten run to 18 matches this year.

The 23-year-old claimed the $605,500 first prize after becoming only the third player to beat Nadal and Federer in the same tournament twice, joining Nikolay Davydenko and David Nalbandian.

However, Djokovic -- who spent 26 weeks at second in the rankings last year -- will still be almost 4,000 points behind Nadal when the ATP rankings list is released on Monday.

"I lost today, but I lost to one of the greatest," said Nadal, whose last title came in Japan last October..

Meanwhile, women's No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki claimed her second title of the year after beating Marion Bartoli 6-1 2-6 6-3 in the WTA Tour final at the same venue earlier on Sunday.

The 20-year-old Dane captured the 14th crown of her short career as she survived a second-set fightback from the first Frenchwoman to reach the Indian Wells final.

Wozniacki, the runner-up last year, handed 15th seed Bartoli her seventh defeat in 12 career title matches.

"This is such an amazing event and everyone loves playing here. I'm already looking forward to playing here next year," Wozniacki said.

Bartoli, the 2007 Wimbledon runner-up, is set to return to the top-10 in the rankings when the new list is released.

"Caroline, you should be very proud of yourself and I wish you all the best in the future. I know your goal is to get a grand slam -- I'm sure you'll get it very soon," she said at the award ceremony.

FIFA investigates officials amid match-fixing claims

FIFA investigates officials amid match-fixing claims

Bolivia beat Latvia 2-1 in the first of two international friendlies played in Antalya last month.

(CNN) -- FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against six match officials after claims that two international friendly games fell victim to match-fixing.

The games under suspicion are Bulgaria against Estonia and Latvia against Bolivia, two friendlies which took place last month.

Football's world governing body was alerted after unusual betting patterns on the two games, which were both held at the Turkish resort of Antalya.

A FIFA statement Wednesday read: "FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against six match officials in relation to the international friendly matches Bolivia v Latvia and Estonia v Bulgaria played in Antalya (Turkey) on 9 February 2011."

It continued: "The proceedings were opened following an evaluation of all documentation and information received by FIFA, in relation to a possible match-fixing situation in these matches.

"The FIFA Disciplinary Committee will be in charge to deal with the matter."

Latvia beat Bolivia 2-1 before Bulgaria and Estonia played out a 2-2 draw, with all seven goals coming from the penalty spot.

At the time, Estonian Football Association spokesman Mihkel Uiboleht admitted there had been concern about the matches.

He told CNN: "The friendly was organized by an agency with whom we will not work any more.

"We received information of possible manipulation even before the game as the same agency also organized the match between Latvia and Bolivia and there was the same scenario there."

FIFA has demanded a detailed report on the matches from both the Bulgarian and Estonian football federations.

Redknapp hopeful Bale will be fit for Milan

Redknapp hopeful Bale will be fit for Milan

Harry Redknapp hopes Gareth Bale will be fit for Tottenham's Champions League second leg clash against AC Milan after the Wales winger suffered a slight groin strain in the 3-3 draw at Wolves.

Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale (L) fights for the ball with Manchester United's 

Bale came on as a second half substitute at Molineux on Sunday for his first appearance for six weeks after a back problem, but Redknapp revealed he finished the match nursing a groin problem.

With Italian league leaders Milan coming to White Hart Lane on Wednesday in an attempt to over-turn a 1-0 first leg deficit, Redknapp knows Bale's presence in his team would be a major boost to Tottenham's chances of making the last eight.

The former Southampton player was brilliant in Tottenham's two meetings with Inter Milan in the group stage and Redknapp hopes he will be fit to start.

"When Gareth came on and started to run with the ball, it was exciting. We've missed that for the last five or six weeks," Redknapp said.

"Hopefully he'll be okay for the Milan game and he seems all right after the game.

"He just felt the pitch was a bit heavy and his groin was a bit tight."

After watching his side miss a chance to move above Chelsea into fourth place, Redknapp admitted Spurs defender Alan Hutton was fortunate not to be sent off.

Hutton appeared to deny Nenad Milijas a clear goalscoring opportunity when he pulled him back inside the box at the end of the first half.

Referee Mark Halsey awarded a penalty but chose to only to yellow card Hutton.

Redknapp said he had not seen a re-run of the incident, but when informed by the media what had occurred, he conceded Hutton should have been dismissed.

He said: "There were bodies 70 yards away from me in the box and the ref has suddenly given the penalty.

"I didn't have a clue why he had given it because we couldn't see from the dug-out.

"I haven't looked at the video. But, if he pulled his arm, it must be a clear goalscoring opportunity. He is very lucky not to get sent off then."

Wolves were also aggrieved to have a Richard Stearman effort ruled out for a foul on Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes.

But Redknapp claimed: "I thought that was a foul. He was looking at Gomes and not the ball."

Jermain Defoe netted his first and second Premier League goals of the season, with Roman Pavlyuchenko also on target.

But two goals from Kevin Doyle and a late header from Steven Fletcher earned struggling Wolves a share of the spoils.

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy had also not seen a re-run of the Hutton incident but said: "All I can say is if someone gets pulled back in the box and it stops them from scoring, then it should be a red card."

McCarthy was full of praise for his side's performance, though, even though they remain in the bottom three.

He said: "We deserved a point. Their third goal was down to gross stupidity from us but we played some terrific stuff."

Cricket World Cup: Kevin Pietersen flying home for op

Cricket World Cup: Kevin Pietersen flying home for op

Pietersen has scored 131 runs in England's first four World Cup games

Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the rest of England's World Cup campaign because his hernia problem is more serious than first thought.

The 30-year-old opener will be replaced by Middlesex batsman Eoin Morgan.

England had hoped Pietersen would play through the pain before having hernia surgery after the tournament.

But the decision was taken to fly him home on Monday after he struggled in the field during the six-run win over South Africa on Sunday.

England coach Andy Flower told BBC Sport: "The medical advice was that he could get through the tournament.

"The hernia problem that he had would not get significantly worse and he wasn't going to tear anything so we hoped that he would get through the tournament ok, take pain killers when needed and bite the bullet.

"Unfortunately he says that the pain is too debilitating and he can't go on like that, so it's a pretty simple decision in replacing him."

The hernia problem was initially discovered after an MRI scan following Pietersen's return to England after the post-Ashes one-day series in Australia, which the home side won 6-1.

Before Sunday's game, Pietersen had shown signs of returning to the form that resulted in him equalling the record as the fastest player to score 1000 one-day runs, notching up 129 runs in England's first three World Cup games.

Opening the batting with captain Andrew Strauss he scored 39 against the Netherlands, 31 against India and 59 in the defeat to Ireland, before making only two runs in Sunday's Group B win in Chennai, though he did manage to bowl eight overs.

On his departure from the tournament, Pietersen told his Twitter page: "Absolutely devastated!! Sad to leave India. Love the people & the hospitality!"

BBC Cricket Correspondent Jonathan Agnew said: "Although he has scored only two fifties in the last 27 games, Pietersen was a potential match-winner and England's dilemma will be deciding who now opens the batting in his place, with Ravi Bopara and Ian Bell the likely candidates."

Pietersen's injury requires around six weeks of recovery and will also rule him out of the Indian Premier League, which he was due to contest with the Deccan Chargers.

Morgan, one of the best finishers in the one-day game, was originally ruled out of the tournament with a broken finger.

But he has made a quicker-than-expected recovery and will join up with the squad this week once clearance has been received from the International Cricket Council.

The Dublin-born left-hander, who played for Ireland in the last World Cup before switching to play for England, has a batting average of 38.08 from 61 one-day internationals, with four hundreds and 10 fifties.

An inventive stroke-maker, he was a key member of the England side that won the ICC World Twenty20 last year.

However, he did not score more than 30 in any of his six innings during the 6-1 defeat to Australia before succumbing to a broken finger.

"His finger has healed nicely and he has full flexibility back into the joint," Flower added. "He hasn't done any training yet, so we'll get him straight into the nets and up to speed as well as we can."

England will be guaranteed a place in the World Cup quarter-finals if they beat co-hosts Bangladesh on Friday.

Flower said he had already decided who would open the batting in Chittagong, but suggested the opening pair could be decided on a game-by-game basis.

"What that can give us is flexibility," he said. "We should remain adaptable depending on what the opposition is and what pitch conditions are."

Brilliant bowling edges England past SA

2018 World Cup bid sought Qatar voting deal

2018 World Cup bid sought Qatar voting deal

Plan discussed to use Duke of York's influence

England's failed 2018 World Cup bid tried to use the Duke of York's relationship with the Qatari royal family to secure a voting alliance.

Following a freedom of information request, the BBC has learned diplomats and the Football Association worked on a Qatar strategy to help England's bid.

Qatar's own bid for the 2022 tournament event was ultimately successful.

Spain and Portugal were accused of breaking Fifa rules by forming a voting alliance with Qatar.

The emails revealed by this freedom of information request show for the first time the lengths to which England was prepared to go to win backing for its campaign.

Time and again in correspondence from foreign office and embassy officials in Qatar, it was made clear that securing the support of the Emir of Qatar would be crucial to England's chances of success.

A plan was discussed to use the influence of the Royal Family, in particular the Duke of York, to secure a voting alliance between England's 2018 bid and Qatar's own challenge for the 2022 event.

One email said: "The advice from the ambassador in Doha is that, subject to anything that happened at that meeting, we should ask the Duke to be kind enough to speak to the Emir on the phone as soon as is convenient and before 23 April in order to seek his support for the England bid."

It is not known if any meeting or phone call took place.

But in other emails, it was revealed how the Duke of York - the United Kingdom's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment since 2001 - was planning to meet with the Emir's wife Sheika Mozha.

In October, the Emir made a state visit to Britain where it was hoped he would discuss the countries' World Cup bids with the Prince of Wales, though a statement from Clarence House denied that any voting alliance was discussed.

The Duke of York's press office has denied that any lobbying with Qatar was carried out.

The FA has declined to comment on the emails or on its campaign voting strategy, though one source defended the approach saying this was what was needed to try and win.

What this information shows is that while other bids such as Spain and Portugal were investigated by Fifa for voting collusion, England was desperately trying to do its own deals to win the World Cup.

However the tactic was to prove unsuccessful with England gaining only two votes as its bid was eliminated in the first round.