Melbourne  - Legend Rod Laver worries that Lleyton Hewitt's hip surgery may have robbed the former number one of some of his famed speed around the court.

"He's lost a step or two, mostly because he's had the hip injury," said the last man to win the calendar Grand Slam in 1969. "There's also the fact that you've had a career, won a Wimbledon and the US Open. Now all of a sudden everyone is saying, 'Hey, you're still a young man, you're gonna win an Australian,' or whatever it might be.

Rome - Italian football giants Juventus Turin are considering the sale of striker Vincenzo Iaquinta to Russian club Zenit St Petersburg and appear close to buy young Argentine star Eduardo Salvio, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported Tuesday.

Zenit reportedly offered 10 million euros (13.2 million dollars) for the 29-year-old forward, who found little room in his two seasons at the Juve, mostly due to frequent injuries.

London, Jan. 27 : England football ace David Beckham has followed in the footsteps of ex-gaffer Steve McClaren - by adopting a comedy foreign accent.

The former Three Lions captain spoke in broken English in his post-match interview after bagging his first AC Milan goal.

Becks' famous squeaky voice made way for bizarre pronunciations, reports The Sun.

He was speaking after the Italian giants beat Serie A rivals Bologna 4-1 on Sunday.

Melbourne, Jan. 27 : Defending champion Novak Djokovic has quit the Australian Open, retiring from his quarter-final against Andy Roddick on Tuesday.

Djokovic, the No. 3-seed, from Serbia, was trailing the No. 7 seed, from the United States, 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-2 2-1 when he quit the match, after two-and-a-half hours, apparently suffering from heat stress.

Lahore, Jan 27 : Pakistan's middle order batsman Younis Khan has accepted the captaincy during his meeting with Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt.

According to sources, Younis Khan called on Butt and accepted the offer of captaincy during the meeting.

Shoaib Malik was constantly facing severe criticism after Pakistan's humiliating defeat in one-day series against Sri Lanka.

Melbourne - Andy Roddick beat the heat as he ended the Australian Open title defence of Novak Djokovic with the Serbian retiring to hand over a 6-7, (3-7), 6-4, 6-2, 2-1 victory in their Tuesday quarter-final.

The pair played in 31 degree Celsius temperatures on the first day of a Melbourne heat wave which was predicted to bring on temperatures 10 degrees warmer by Wednesday.

The retirement after two hours, 29 minutes was the fourth at a Grand Slam for the delicate Djokovic.