Perth, Australia  - Nicolas Kiefer was taken off in a wheelchair on Thursday, victim of a freak ankle injury as Slovakia reached the final of the eight-nation team competition when Germany could not go on.

Kiefer, 31, was watching a return from Dominik Hrbaty sail out over the baseline when he put his weight wrongly on his right ankle and crumbled to the court at the Burswood Dome.

The German, leading 3-1 and with advantage in the fifth game, lay there in pain until he was taken away for treatment.

Wellington  -

Melbourne  - The Australian Open has lost injured world number five Nikolay Davydenko as the Russian withdrew due to a nagging heel injury.

The opening Grand Slam of the season suffered its first high- profile defection through the pullout. Also on the possible danger list are Maria Sharapova and world number two Serena Williams.

Neither have played for months - Sharapova has missed six months - but both insist they will be ready for the major, which begins in 11 days.

London  - Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said he believed his side will reach the Carling Cup final despite their 1-0 defeat at Derby in the first leg of the semi-final on Wednesday.

United were beaten by Kris Commons' superb shot after half an hour, but Rob Hulse missed a good chance to extend their lead later on.

Ferguson said the Championship side could live to regret their missed opportunities.

"I think we are lucky," Ferguson said. "We could have lost by more.

Oberhof, Germany  - Russia dominated the women's 4x6-kilometre World Cup biathlon relay in Oberhof, Germany Wednesday for a third straight relay win of the season.

Olga Medvedtseva eased over the line carrying the Russian flag to complete the last leg for a combined time of 1 hour 16 minutes 47.7 seconds.

Medvedtseva, Svetlana Slepzova, Olga Saizeva and Ekaterina Iourieva could afford one penalty round and seven shooting errors on the way to giving Russia victory in all three of the season's relays.

Dortmund, Germany  - Germany's Milram cycling team Wednesday presented its new line-up vowing to make a fresh start for the 2009 season as the country's last major team in the sport.

"The focus is on us. It is an opportunity but also a great responsibility," team manager Gerry van Gerwen said.

Milram has chosen a young team with 17 of its 25 riders from Germany, led by two captains in Linus Gerdemann and Gerald Ciolek.