Lazio coach Vladimir Petkovic said his side will have nothing to fear when it faces two-time reigning Serie A champion Juventus in the Italian Supercup on Sunday.

Juventus has won the trophy five times and needs one more victory to draw level with AC Milan as the team that has lifted the cup the most.

Midfielder Esteban Granero is joining Spanish club Real Sociedad on a one-season loan from Queens Park Rangers.

Sociedad said the loan deal includes an option to buy the player at the end of the season.

There are three reasons why Barcelona is favored to defend its Spanish league title.

They are as concise as they are convincing: Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and new arrival Neymar.

Just weeks after winning the Wimbledon title, Marion Bartoli retired from tennis on Wednesday, tearfully conceding that the pain from a series of injuries was too much to bear.

"My body was really starting to fall apart and I was able to keep it together, go through the pain — with a lot of pain — throughout this Wimbledon and make it happen," the 28-year-old French player said, tears running down her cheeks. "That was probably the last little bit of something that was left inside me.

Serena Williams overcame what she described as one of her worst sets before beating qualifier Eugenie Bouchard of Canada 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday in her opening match at the Western & Southern Open.

"So it was just some crazy tennis out there," Williams said.

Gonzalo Higuain and Ever Banega scored as Argentina extended its unbeaten record against Italy to four matches with a 2-1 win over the Azzurri, while Brazil was handed a 1-0 loss by Switzerland in another friendly on Wednesday.

Brazil's 11-match unbeaten run came to an end as Dani Alves scored an own goal with a header into the top-left corner.

For English football, it has long seemed unthinkable: a league season starting without the finger-jabbing, combative colossus of management on the touchlines.

Alex Ferguson will be a bystander for the first time since 1986, watching from afar as Manchester United starts its pursuit of a record-extending 21st English title.

Maria Sharapova's return to WTA tournament play after more than a month away was short-lived as the Russian suffered an upset loss to American Sloane Stephens 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the second round of the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday.

In a match that lasted 2 hours, 22 minutes, Stephens overcame double faults on two match points to pick up her first victory over Sharapova in four meetings.

Brazil's sports minister is concerned about the pace of construction at the 2014 World Cup stadiums that need to be ready in December.

Aldo Rebelo said Tuesday that work needs to be accelerated at five of the six stadiums that are under construction because they "are facing a tight deadline." The minister said that only the Sao Paulo stadium that will host the opening match next June is comfortably on track to be completed on time.

Never count out Yelena Isinbayeva, especially when she is performing before a rapturous home crowd at the world championships.

Five years after her last major outdoor pole vault victory, the Russian turned back the clock with a vintage performance to beat Olympic champion Jenn Suhr with a leap of 4.89 meters, her best outdoor effort in four years.