Melbourne  - Australian Open semi-finalist Elena Dementieva credits the winter warmth of Miami for giving a turbo boost to her tennis in 2009.

Instead of fighting the Moscow weather and training indoors with snow outside, the world number four got herself to Florida for uninterrupted weeks of solid preparation.

The system paid off, with two titles so far this season and a semi-final spot at the Open.

London  - Newcastle pair Michael Owen and Joey Barton are set for lengthy spells on the sidelines after both suffered ankle injuries in action on Wednesday.

Owen cracked a bone in his ankle playing against Manchester City and will be out for about six weeks. Barton suffered a similar injury and will miss 10 weeks.

"It's one thing after another at the moment," Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear said.

"Michael's on crutches already for protection and he's going to have a scan tomorrow.

Melbourne  - Jelena Dokic and Roger Federer provided a power punch for Australian Open ratings this week, with those contests watched by only a slightly smaller number of viewers than the 2008 men's final.

The Seven network scored a hit with the programming one-two, which attracted 2.31 million viewers across the five major metropolitan markets

When Novak Djokovic beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the men's final a year ago, the audience was a slightly higher 2.34 million.

London  - Liverpool's title hopes suffered another blow on Wednesday when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Wigan Athletic, while Chelsea leapfrogged them into second place in the English Premier League.

A late penalty by debutant Mido gave Wigan a share of the points at the JJB Stadium after Yossi Benayoun had fired Liverpool ahead on 41 minutes.

Two second-half goals from Salomon Kalou sealed Chelsea's 2-0 win over Middlesbrough, lifting them above Liverpool on goal difference, two points behind leaders Manchester United.

Frankfurt - Schalke striker Gerald Asamoah will miss the Bundesliga club's

Amsterdam - Huub Stevens has resigned as PSV Eindhoven after less than a season, the Dutch club said on Wednesday.

PSV said in a statement that the relationship between Stevens and the players never "clicked" despite many efforts.

"To their regret, PSV and Huub Stevens had to realize that the relationship and the trust between the coach and the squad wasn't good enough to perform in the best way," said the statement.

PSV are yet to name a successor.