The Mitsubishi Motors Drive to ArenaBowl XXII New Orleans continues to heat up as key conference matchups headline Week 12 in the Arena Football League. Teams in both the American and National Conference are jockeying for playoff positioning as only six weeks remain in the 2008 regular season.

The world's top-two stars -- Swiss Roger Federer and Spaniard Rafael Nadal -- were a pair of second-round winners Wednesday at the $2.955 million Masters Series Hamburg, a clay-court French Open tuneup.

Top-ranked Belgian star Justine Henin has decided to retire from professional tennis, effective immediately.

LIMELETTE, Belgium The determination that helped Justine Henin beat bigger, stronger opponents time and again was fading. "I decided," the 25-year-old Belgian said, "to stop fooling myself and accept it." Henin retired from tennis Wednesday, an abrupt ending to a career in which she won seven Grand Slam singles titles and spent more than 100 weeks ranked No. 1.

LIMELETTE, Belgium The determination that helped Justine Henin beat bigger, stronger opponents time and again was fading.

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) unveiled the qualification format for the inaugural 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League, it was announced on Wednesday.

Austrian lefthander Sybille Bammer was an upset victim on a rainy Tuesday at the $1.34 million Italian Open, a clay- court French Open tune-up.

Dallas Desperados QB CLINT DOLEZEL, Tampa Bay Storm DB TRACO RACHAL and Georgia Force FB/LB MATT HUEBNER have been named Offensive Player, ADT Defensive Player, and Ironman of the Week, respectively, for Week 11 of the 2008 season.

Belgian Justine Henin, the world's top- ranked women's tennis player, will reportedly announce her retirement on Wednesday.

The U.S. Davis Cup team will head to Madrid to play Spain in the semifinals from September 19-21.

A New York appeals court agreed Tuesday to hear a request by two-time defending America's Cup champion Alinghi to push back the start of its showdown against American challenger BMW Oracle Racing.

LEXINGTON, Ky. Storm Cat, one of the top stallions in thoroughbred racing history, has been retired as a breeder.

UNIONTOWN, Pa. The Pennsylvania Superior Court has rejected the appeal of a former youth baseball coach convicted of offering a player $25 to bean a 9-year-old autistic teammate.

Real Salt Lake (2-3-2) at Colorado (3-4-0), 9:30 p.m. Colorado Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo didn't want to "complain about the referees" after Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Houston Dynamo, but added, "the outcome should be decided by the two teams and I don't believe that was the case."

Fourth-seeded Russian star Nikolay Davydenko and fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer were easy second-round winners Tuesday at the $2.955 million Masters Series Hamburg, a clay-court French Open tuneup.

D.C. United announced Tuesday the club has entered into a strategic partnership with Club Bolivar, one of Bolivia's most storied clubs.

NEW YORK Defending America's Cup champion Alinghi of Switzerland came up a winner off the water on Monday when a New York judge ruled that a showdown against the United States can't begin until mid-March.

Columbus Crew winger Robbie Rogers was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 7, it was announced on Monday.

Tenth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva and 11th- seeded Hungarian Agnes Szavay were among Monday's first-round winners at the $1.34 million Italian Open, a clay-court French Open tune-up.

Keystone Sports and Entertainment, LLC, the Major League Soccer Philadelphia 2010 ownership group, announced the hiring of Rob Smith as Director of Operations and Dave Debusschere as Chief Financial Officer on Monday. Nick Sakiewicz, CEO and operating partner of Keystone Sports and Entertainment, said Smith and Debusschere will officially begin their new assignments on June 2.