Sir Alex Ferguson insisted it's not time to panic despite admitting Manchester United had handed the Premier League title initiative back to Manchester City.

A stunned Ferguson saw his side suffer a comprehensive 3-0 defeat at Newcastle, condemning them to back-to-back league losses for the first time in 10 months to remain in second, three points adrift of Roberto Mancini's leaders, while holding the same advantage over Tottenham Hotspur, in third.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer eased into the Qatar Open quarterfinals in rare cool and windy conditions in Doha on Wednesday.

Nadal routed German qualifier Denis Gremelmayr 6-2, 6-2, while Federer overwhelmed Slovenia qualifier Grega Zemlja 6-2, 6-3.

Brazilian football icon Ronaldo said Wednesday on his Twitter account that he has contracted dengue fever.

"I am convalescing. I was discharged last night. Now I have to rest to recover quickly," wrote the 34-year-old star, who last year accepted an invitation to become head of the 2014 World Cup organizing committee. Brazil is to host the event.

A Cesc Fabregas first-half double inspired Barcelona to a 4-0 win over Osasuna in their Spanish Cup Last 16 first leg match on Wednesday.

Two-time world player of the year Lionel Messi came on midway through the second-half to add another two, his first a header set up by a Fabregas cross to give last season's beaten finalists a healthy advantage ahead of next week's second leg.

David Beckham may not be headed to Paris Saint-Germain, but it's still not certain he will be back with Major League Soccer champions the Los Angeles Galaxy, The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Tim Leiweke, chief executive of Galaxy's owners AEG, told the newspaper that there was still no deal in place for Beckham to stay with the club, although the Galaxy want to keep him.

Equatorial Guinea and South Africa kick off a 13-fixture warm-up schedule Friday ahead of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

Sudan have lined up three friendlies, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia two each and Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea and Zambia one apiece.

A hobbling Serena Williams said she would wait 24 hours before deciding whether to withdraw from the Brisbane International because of an ankle injury she picked up Wednesday.

The injury-prone 13-time Grand Slam winner fell heavily during her second round win over Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski after she rolled her ankle during a baseline rally.

World number one Caroline Wozniacki did little to silence her critics Wednesday as she struggled to win her singles match in Denmark's 2-1 loss to Bulgaria at the mixed teams Hopman Cup in Perth.

The Dane, who is clinging to the top ranking in women's tennis by 115 points and has been much maligned for failing to win a Grand Slam, made a host of unforced errors in her marathon clash against Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova.

Paris Saint-Germain President Nasser al-Khelaifi says David Beckham will not join the French club, despite weeks of speculation that the 36-year-old former England captain was coming to play.

Speaking in an interview with French radio station RMC, al-Khelaifi said: "David Beckham is in Los Angeles and he's going to stay there."

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is set to recall Wayne Rooney for the Premier League clash at Newcastle on Wednesday following the England striker's surprise absence against Blackburn.

Ferguson has revealed Rooney will be available after the forward did not even make the substitutes' bench for the champions' shock 3-2 defeat by relegation candidates Blackburn at Old Trafford on New Year's Eve.