Former world number one Serena Williams surged past Marion Bartoli 7-5, 6-1 Sunday to win the WTA Stanford crown, her first title in more than a year, signalling her U.S. Open intentions.

Williams, a 13-time Grand Slam champion who is battling to rebuild her ranking after an injury layoff of almost a year, claimed her first title since Wimbledon 2010.

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry was denied the chance to make a farewell appearance for his former club in the Emirates Cup.

Henry had agreed with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger that he would play switch teams for the last five minutes of Sunday's friendly between his current club New York Red Bulls and the Gunners.

Ferrari plan to find the extra pace they need to improve their qualifying performances - and then fight for wins for the rest of this year's Formula One world title race.

Team chief Stefano Domenicali said after seeing two times champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso finish third in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix that a tweak in form for the Q3 session is their target.

Formula One teams are set to ask Bernie Ecclestone to review his recent reshuffle of the 2012 calendar.

Ecclestone, the sport's commercial ringmaster, provided teams with a provisional revamped schedule, but it is understood that teams have concerns about the final part of the season.

Assistant Germany coach Oliver Bierhoff insists the three-time champions were ready for the 2014 World Cup challenge after being drawn in Group C with Sweden, Ireland, Austria, Faroe Islands and Kazakhstan.

Speaking to journalists after the draw in Rio, Bierhoff, representing coach Joachim Loew, who stayed behind in Germany, said he thought the Germans would rise to the task as they always have done in the past.

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque admitted that France will be a "terrible rival" in World Cup 2014 qualifying, but warned his squad on Sunday not to just focus on the former world champions.

Defending champions Spain were drawn against 1998 winners France in World Cup 2014 qualifying on Saturday in the biggest match-up of the tournament.

Fortune shone on England at the 2014 World Cup draw on Saturday as defending champions Spain and 1998 winners France were locked on a collision course in the race for the Brazil finals.

England, one of the top seeds, were drawn with Euro 2012 rivals Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland and makeweights Moldova and San Marino in Group H.

American great Michael Phelps won the 100m butterfly in convincing fashion on Saturday to prove he is far from a spent force in swimming despite a disappointing world championships.

The defending champion, world record-holder and Olympic gold medalist was third at the turn but he swept through the field over the final 50 meters to win in 50.71sec, ahead of Poland's Konrad Czerniak and America's Tyler McGill.

No decision has yet been made concerning the venue of the 2014 World Cup final despite comments attributed to FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke that it would be staged in Rio de Janeiro, world football's governing body insisted on Thursday night.

"Jerome Valcke merely evoked the possibility of a final in Rio. The official decision has still not been taken," FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot told Agence France Presse.

Armenia's top chess players, lauded as heroes after winning the 2011 World Team Chess Championship this week, vowed on Friday to boost the small chess-mad country's status in the game even further.

The team's head coach said that future successes will be secured through official support and an unusual new scheme to promote the game among schoolchildren initiated by Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian, a keen player who also heads the country's Chess Federation.