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Roger Federer lost the first set of his career against Victor Hanescu before recovering for a 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 win into the third round of the Indian Wells Masters, his first event since winning January’s Australian Open.

Top seed Federer came to the court with a 4-0 record against the Romanian against whom he stood 11-0 on sets dating to Davis Cup in 2004.

Federer claimed the title at the desert venue from 2004-2006 but went out in the semi-finals a year ago to Andy Murray.

“I was happy with the way I played, nNot having played for so long,” said the top seed Sunday. “I thought it was a good match overall.

“I missed maybe some of the clutch serving when I really needed it, but that’s something that happens.

“Victor did well to hang in there, because I was all over him for at least a set and a half.”

After sweeping the opening set in half an hour with five love service games, the contest tightened as Hanescu levelled through a tiebreaker. But the Swiss world number one cranked up his game to sweep the third and take the win in just under two hours.

Federer, who suffered in recent weeks from a lung infection, will next play Marcos Baghdatis a winner over Frenchman Arnaud Clement 7-6 (9-7), 6-1.

Murray joined fourth seed Murray in a tough start after first-round byes.

The Scot, who lost the Australian Open final to the Swiss, went straight to the practise court following his unenthusiastic 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Italian Andreas Seppi.

Murray got past Seppi for the fourth time in five meetings as the pair began with breaks of serve in the opening three games.

“Obviously I haven’t played that many matches lately,” said Murray of his “pretty scrappy” match.

“Even though it was relatively comfortable, there were still some tight moments,” said the Scot, who went directly to train after the victory. “It was just to go and hit a few more balls and get used to the conditions.”

Murray, playing for the first time since losing another listless contest to Janko Tipsarevic in Dubai – the Scot admitted he perhaps did not go all out – will next play American Michael Russell.

“There wasn’t a particular point in the match where I felt like in a lot of trouble. It was pretty breezy on the court. It’s just sometimes quite difficult to get into a rhythm,” said Murray.

Sixth-seeded French Open finalist Robin Soderling defeated Evgeny Korolev of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-4.

Andy Roddick, the number seven, began his stand with a win over Lu Yen Hsun of Taiwan 6-4, 6-4.

Ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was untroubled by Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic in a 6-1, 6-3 victory as the winds that plagued play on Saturday died down in the desert.

But French hopes suffered as 58th-ranked German Simon Greul surprised 12th seed Gael Monfils 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Two more seeds bowed out.

American James Blake accounted for number 13 Spaniard David Ferrer 6-1, 6-4 and Israeli Dudi Sela stunned Czech number 14 Radek Stepanek 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

In women’s play, fourth seed Elena Dementieva defeated Belgian Kirsten Flipkens 6-4, 6-2, leading fifth seed Agnieskwa Radwanska, a 6-1, 6-0 winner over Gisela Dulko.

Australian Open semi-finalist Zheng Jie ended the hopes of Maria Sharapova 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, with the Russian complaining of arm pain and patchy play.

“The problem is trying not to be so up and down. It was just very inconsistent. I mean, that’s pretty much the bottom line.”

French number 11 Marion Bartoli crushed American Jill Craybas 6-2, 6-0, while Australian wild card Alicia Molik was equally ruthless in her 6-0, 6-2 defeat of Brit Elena Baltacha in 56 minutes.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Monday constituted a three-member committee to hear appeals of the players, banned and fined by the board earlier this month.

The panel has three retired judges Jamshed Ali Shah, Irfan Qadir and Munir A. Sheikh.

Seven players, including former captains Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik, were banned and fined by the PCB on the recommendation of an inquiry committee which went into the causes behind Pakistan’s disastrous tour of Australia Jan-Feb.

Yousuf and Younis were banned for an ‘indefinite’ period for “infighting” while Malik and Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan were banned for one year. Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal were fined Rs.3 million each while Umar Akmal was fined Rs.2 million.

It remains to be seen whether the players will file appeals against the punishment.

England’s David Beckham is set to miss this summer’s World Cup finals after suffering a serious Achilles injury Sunday.

The 34-year-old, who was hoping to play in his fourth World Cup, was injured while playing for AC Milan against Chievo and will now go to Finland Monday for surgery.

“A rupture of the Achilles tendon is suspected,” AC Milan said in a statement.

Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani said England’s most-capped outfield player, with 11 caps, will be out for “probably five or six months”, but also offered him hope for the future.

“I saw him and he was suffering,” Galliani said. “In the dressing room, I took him in my arms and told him that if he wanted, he will be with us next year.”

Milan coach Leonardo said: “Beckham’s injury makes us feel terrible. He understood immediately that he had torn his Achilles tendon.

“He is an extraordinary guy and today’s game proves it yet again. I cannot enjoy this evening considering this serious injury.”

Ignazio Abate, his Milan teammate, said Beckham was struggling to cope with the news.

“He’s not doing well,” Abate said. “He was in tears in the dressing room, he wasn’t saying a lot. This has affected us all.”

Members of the Netherlands hockey team Saturday visited a shelter for rescued child labourers and gifted them hockey sticks. They also had a friendly hockey session with the children.

Bhuwan Ribhu of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), a child rights NGO which runs the shelter, said: “The coach of the Netherlands hockey team, Michel Van Den Heuvel, and two other players of the Premier League team visited the Mukti Ashram today to visit the 40 rescued child labourers who we have housed here.”

“The team spent about an hour with the kids and presented them with hockey sticks. The idea behind this was to tell the children that they have every right to play and enjoy their childhood, as much as they have a right to education,” Ribhu told IANS.

Rizwan, one of the children in the shelter who was rescued from a bindi making unit in Delhi March 9 said: “I like hockey and have been watching a lot of matches on TV. I am glad I have my own hockey stick now…I can play whenever I wish”.

Seeing the enthusiasm of the children – all of who were boys – the visiting team also had a friendly hockey session with them in which they gave them some basic playing tips.

The Netherlands lost to Australia in the semifinals of the Hockey World Cup.

India’s Saina Nehwal stormed into the women’s semifinal of the All England Badminton Championship with a stunning 21-8, 21-14 quarterfinal win over Germany’s Juliane Schenk in 27 minutes at the National Indoor Arena in Brimingham.

Saina is the first Indian woman to reach the quarterfinals of All England, which is in its centenary year. In the semifinal, Saina will meet former world No.1 Tine Rasmussen of Denmark. Rasmussen shocked world champion and sixth seed Lan Lu 16-21, 23-21, 21-11 in the first quarterfinal.

“It is a fantastic victory,” said Pullela Gopichand, former All England champion and national coach, in a statement.

“I told her to playing an aggressive game. Saina is in good touch,” he added.

Asked about her semifinal chances, Gopichand said: “Saina is a much improved player than last year. She has been working on her strokes. She has the edge over Rasmussen.”

Mumbai Indians piled up 212 for six in 20 overs against Rajasthan Royal in a Indian Premier League match here Saturday.

Saurabh Tiwary smashed 53 and Ambati Rayudu 55.

For Royals, Dimitri Mascarenhas (2-34) and Amit Uniyal (2-41) took two wickets each.

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly has been fined

$20,000 for slow over rate during the team’s opening match win against defending champions Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

The Knight Riders were assessed to be three overs behind the required rate at the end of the match. Under the IPL’s code of conduct, match referee Andy Pycroft fined Ganguly.

Knight Riders, who were placed at the bottom last year, stunned Chargers by 11 runs here Friday.

A buoyant Chennai Super Kings, pepped by the recent form of their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, are fancying their chances against defending champions Deccan Chargers in their opening game of the third edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here Sunday.

The Chargers, led by charismatic Adam Gilchrist, would be smarting from their shock defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders, the league’s cellar dwellers in Mumbai Friday night when the eight-team competition was lit by a spectacular opening ceremony. The Super Kings will look go in for the kill against a side that would be little bit down on morale, if nothing else.

The pitch, historically known for the pronounced bounce and movement, could influence the outcome. Matthew Hayden, the Super Kings opener and last year’s top run-getter, did provide a clue on the nature of the pitch on the sidelines of the launch of the evolutionary Mongoose bat when he said the pitch had characteristics that favoured the batsmen.

If that is so then the Super Kings, semi-finalists last season and runners-up in 2008, look the better equipped with Hayden, Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina, Subramaniam Badrinath and Dhoni forming a formidable batting line-up. But then, given the vicissitudes of Twenty20, there are no guarantees and only the form on the day matters.

The last time the two teams met at this venue, undergoing massive renovation on the eastern wing, the Chargers caught a depleted Super Kings on their way down after two consecutive defeats and successfully chased a target of 145 to win by seven wickets and two overs to spare. Super Kings later avenged this defeat in Hyderabad.

The story was much the same last season when the Chargers were on the hop at East London, South Africa, being dismissed for 100 in the 15th over to Super Kings total of 178 after having won the previous game at Durban by six wickets.

Thus, it is even-Stevens between the two teams in head-to-head context and that alone would inject considerable suspense in Sunday’s game.

The game is likely to be more of a batting contest given the firepower the two teams possess as against a comparative tepid bowling attack. However, the Super Kings believe they have far more bowling options this time around with the inclusion of South African all-rounder Justin Kemp who is expected to cover for key absentees Andrew Flintoff and Jacob Oram.

Likewise, the Chargers have to make do without their West Indian imports, notably fast bowler Kemar Roach who would have probably enjoyed bowling on the Chepauk pitch Sunday, and compatriot Dwayne Smith.

For all the pre-match bravado, it remains to be seen whether the Chargers can shrug off their shock defeat and refocus while the Super Kings tighten up their bowling, especially in the death overs that cost them quite a few matches in the past.

Both teams are likely to delay nominating their playing eleven until they have a look at the pitch that is out of bounds Saturday in view of the inauguration of Secretariat building close to the ground by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Local lad and star Kings XI Punjab player Yuvraj Singh is again in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Chandigarh police have sent a written complaint to Indian Premier League (IPL) authorities and the management of the Kings XI Punjab team Yuvraj Singh and another local player V.R.V. Singh slipping away from the Mountview hotel where the team is staying.

“Yuvraj and VRV slipped away from the hotel without informing the security officer and other police officers, who are deployed all through day and night for the security of the players. We have no problem if they go out but they should at least inform us so that we can ensure their security,” Chandigarh Superintendent of Police (security) H.S. Doon told IANS.

“They should inform us at least one hour before leaving the hotel. We are taking this issue very seriously and we have recommended strict action against these players,” he said.

A police officer said Yuvraj had gone to his house here in his private BMW car whereas VRV had gone to some unknown destination. Yuvraj’s BMW has been stationed in the hotel parking all the time.

Kings XI Punjab will play against Delhi Daredevils Saturday at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium in Mohali town in Punjab, around 10 km from here.

There were also reports that the security officer deployed at the hotel has given a negative report about Virender Sehwag and other Delhi Daredevils officials for using private vehicles instead of official vehicles while going out of the hotel.

In November last year, when the Indian team was here to play a one-day match against Australia, Chandigarh police had complained against Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh for breaching the security cover.

Rapper Lonnie Rashid Lynn, better known as Common, has fuelled rumours that he will marry Serena Williams by going public with his love for the tennis champion.

“Serena is a beautiful, fun and a strong woman. I love her heart and her strength. She’s a warmhearted human being. I think she’s incredible,” contactmusic.com quoted Common, 38, as saying.

They have been dating for two years and despite a 10-year age gap, the recording star insists he’s smitten with the 28-year-old tennis ace.