Eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi has backed Rafael Nadal to fight off the challenge of in-form Novak Djokovic and lift his seventh French Open title.

Djokovic has swept all before him in winning three consecutive Grand Slams but is still chasing an elusive first-ever victory at Roland Garros.

The Serbian’s record is in contrast to that of Nadal, who is almost unbeatable on the Paris clay. The 25-year-old has lost just once at the French Open in seven years, at the hands of Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009 and punters who bet on sports  are not looking beyond him for this year’s title.

Agassi, who shares the distinction of a career Golden Slam with Nadal – winning four Grand Slams and Olympic gold in singles –, believes it will take a special effort to beat the Spaniard in 2012.

“It’s going to be hard no matter what Djokovic has proven over the last year to ever think that Nadal wouldn’t be deserving of the favourite,” Agassi told sport news reporters .

“He is the Mount Everest on that surface three-out-of-five and I’ve got to believe that there’s a bit of an edge that would go to the person that has stood at the top of that mountain as many times as he has.”

The clay master recently beat Djokovic to stretch his dominance in Monte Carlo to eight years and Agassi insisted that gives Nadal the edge going into the French Open.

“Obviously Djokovic wasn’t emotionally at his best, but Nadal still managed to win that thing eight times,” he added.

“When they flashed to Bjorn Borg, who I just think the world of, up in the stands, you kind of looked at Bjorn and went ‘wow I remember when you were the crème de la crème’ but Nadal has established himself as the guy to beat on that surface still.”

Just a year ago, anyone asking whether John Terry would be going to the European Championships this summer would have had injury or fitness problems in their mind in order to dare question the potential exclusion of the Chelsea captain.

Now, though, there is no ignoring the fact that there is a serious debate brewing with regards to whether or not Roy Hodgson will dare pick a player who has been tarnished badly by a series of allegations and charges made against him, with the entire England back line now looking far from being settled as a result.

Expectations are low going into the tournament, in fact that are as low as they have been for a generation. The Betfair Group D Euro 2012 Odds suggest qualifying from the group will be an achievement.

If Terry does board the plane to the Euros, we still won’t know whether or not the Chelsea defender will be able to partner the brother of a man who is accusing him of racial abuse. So, what to do in advance of the tournament about an issue that the squad could really do without given the enormous levels of pressure the England team have been placed under this summer?

Terry is a man who clearly loves playing for his country, so questions cannot be asked about whether or not he wants to go to the tournament this summer.

With many other players in the England set-up today not seemingly as committed as Terry in this regard, it might just end up being a decision the former England captain has to make, considering whether his love for the Three Lions actually means that he has to fall on his sword and choose to rule himself out of the squad for the sake of the team.

Ultimately, though, it is unlikely that Terry would make this decision, meaning that the new manager Roy Hodgson will face an extremely difficult decision only days after being made the official manager of the club.

Another one of the outsiders for the tournament are co-hosts Poland, the Group A Euro 2012 Odds don’t fancy them to progress, but they may yet surprise a few people in a group containing Greece, the Czech Republic and Russia.

Juan Martin del Potro is returning to his best just in time for the start of the French Open, after winning his tenth successive match on clay, on his way to setting up a semi-final meeting with Tomas Berdych at the Madrid Open.

Del Porto was in sublime form, as he eased to a straightforward 6-3 6-4 victory against the Ukrainian 16th seed, Alexandr Dolgopolov. The result no doubt resulted in a few big payouts with Betfair tennis.

The 23-year-old Argentinian, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 2009, the same year that he won his sole Grand Slam, the US Open, has already won two tournaments, this year. He was successful at the Open 13 in Marseille, before tasting success at the recent Estoril Open.

Berdych set up the semi-final with del Potro by crushing Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, the man who had knocked Rafael Nadal out in the previous round. The sixth-seeded Czech, who has yet to be broken in 25 service games at the tournament, wasted little time in cruising to a 6-1 6-2 victory.

Verdasco had little answer to Berdych’s power, and still seemed to be recovering from his fantastic display against Nadal, who he had beaten for the first time in his career, winning 6-3 3-6 7-5.

The result brought to an end Nadal’s 22-match winning streak on clay, and he hinted afterwards that he may not take part in the Madrid Open in 2013, as he is unhappy with the new blue clay surface that the organisers have introduced for this year’s tournament.

Nadal is likely to be the main draw at SW19, however; follow his exploits leading up to the competition with Betfair Wimbledon.

Exeter Chiefs winger Gonzalo Camacho admits that qualification for the Heineken Cup has exceeded his wildest dreams.

Camacho arrived at the Chiefs in 2011 and has helped the club to a fifth-placed finish this season. It means they narrowly missed out on a play-off place, but it is enough to secure a place in Europe’s premier international club competition.

“I didn’t have any expectations of the Heineken Cup when I arrived,” said Camacho, who began his rugby career in his native Argentina with Buenos Aires, before taking an opportunity with London outfit Harlequins.

“For us it’s unbelievable to play that level of rugby, some players never expect to reach the Heineken Cup, it is massive and a great motivation for us”

Though their Heineken Cup odds for the new campaign are likely to be long, the Chiefs have impressed many this season and have shown a clear improvement on the previous campaign, when they struggled to a mid-table finish following promotion from the Championship.

But the West country sign can now afford to set their sights a little higher, and Camacho admits that the team are chomping at the bit to resume training ahead of next season.

“We are building year-after-year and the motivation is huge, especially for the young lads coming through,” he added.

“We’re trying to enjoy a few weeks off before heading back to training. It’s very hard in the Premiership, Harlequins finished seventh and are now first, we’ve gone from eighth to fifth so we are improving.”

The Chiefs’ defeat to Saracens on the final day of the regular season put paid to their hopes of securing a play-off finish, but the 2011/12 campaign has undoubtedly laid a solid foundation for future success and sent a strong message to the rugby betting community on Betfair.com.

With the European Championships less than a month away all eyes are on who England manager Roy Hodgson will select for his squad for the competition in Poland and the Ukraine this summer, with punters placing plenty of cash on the new man’s potential selections.

Most of the selections in defence and midfield will come as no surprise to many, with the same faces in the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry and Scott Parker set to feature in the middle of the park.

However apart from Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, there are a host of forwards who could get the nod from Hodgson to make the trip to Eastern Europe for this major competition. Though with places limited, there will also be plenty who will have to watch football live from their armchairs this summer.

Whoever is selected will arguably be called upon due to potential to impress at the tournament rather than going in on form, as most of the likely candidates are either struggling with injuries or form.
Aston Villa striker Darren Bent is a major doubt for Euro 2012 with an ankle injury but might just recover in time to feature and will be favourite in the football betting to be selected should he do so.

Stoke City’s Peter Crouch, who whether you’re an admirer of his talents, has an impressive record with the Three Lions and is another man Hodgson could look to bring in along with possible Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck of Chelsea and Manchester United respectively.

Andy Carroll of Liverpool has endured a torrid season, with a Reds side who have been well below par this term, no matter what their manager Kenny Dalglish may say in the media.

However, the former Newcastle United star has started to show glimpses of the form that made him such an attractive prospect for the Merseyside outfit during his time at St James’ Park.
Carroll could be a wildcard pick for Hodgson, who let’s face it will be choosing from a small crop of English strikers playing in the Premier League, which must be a warning to the FA that to not enough homegrown talent seems to be coming through the ranks at this time.

At London 2012, history will be made in the boxing ring, as women’s events will be included for the first time.

There are thirteen medals up for grabs in all – ten for the men at different weights, and three for the women at fly (51kg) light (60kg) and middle weight (75kg).

Olympic boxing competitions always throw up some quirky stories. Here are a few to whet the appetite for London 2012:

America’s Eddie Eagen won a light-heavyweight boxing gold in Antwerp-1920. Twelve years later, he won another Olympic gold, but this time at the winter Olympics, in bobsledding. He remains the only person in history to have won a gold medal in both summer and winter Olympic sports.

Paul Gonzales of the USA took gold in the Light Flyweight competition in his home-town of Los Angeles, in 1984. Caught up in gang warfare, he was charged with murder when just 15, but was able to prove he had been boxing at the time. His witness was policeman Al Stankie who persuaded Gonzales to take up boxing after seeing him in a street fight five years earlier.

After he took gold in the 1932 bantamweight event, Canada’s Horace – “Lefty” – Gwyne offered to endorse his favourite drink ‘Vi-tone’ but was turned down flat by the makers. Times have certainly changed!

Arnoldo Pares of Argentina was found to be overweight at the weigh-in to the opening bout of the bantamweight contest at London, in 1948. His team cut off all his hair, towelled him down, and scrubbed his feet, but he was still over and inconsolable. The Argentineans protested, and an investigation found the scales to be wrong. He was knocked out in the second round.

Britain’s Richard Gunn won gold in the 1908 Olympics Featherweight event at 37. He now holds the record as the oldest-ever gold medal-winning boxer.

Best mates, John fields and Joseph Salas, both Americans, had to fight each other in the final of the 1924 featherweight event. In the dressing room before the bout, they started to cry and hugged each other. Fields was so upset at having won that he cried again after the bout.

During the 1936 lightweight contest, South African, Thomas Hamilton-Brown, lost his opening fight on points. However, it was found that a judge had made a mistake and that Hamilton-Brown had actually won the fight. By the time his trainer found him, later that night, the distraught fighter had gone on an eating binge to ease his disappointment, and had put on 5 pounds. He was overweight for the competition.

When Sugar Ray Leonard took gold in the 1976 Light Welterweight event, he had photographs of his girlfriend and their son pinned to his socks.

At Seoul in 1988, two boxing rings were used. The end of a round in one was signalled by a buzzer, the other by a bell. In one fight, both the referee and Chun of South Korea got it mixed up and American Todd Foster hit Chun with a big left hook! Eventually, the match was ordered to be re-fought and Foster won, before losing to eventual silver medallist, Cheney, of Australia.

Visit http://betting.betfair.com/betting/2012-olympics/ for more information on betting on 2012 Olympics.

Chelsea will go into the Champions League final without four key players, all ruled out through suspension, a development that midfielder, John Obi Mikel, believes should be addressed by UEFA.

John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Ramires, and Raul Meireles will all be absent from the Chelsea team, when the Londoners walk out at the Allianz Arena, this month, to take on Bayern.

While Terry can have no real argument about the fact that he’ll miss the final, following his ridiculous sending off, the other three will feel particularly aggrieved, after second-leg bookings against Barça saw them pick up one-game European suspensions.

There has been a strong call for UEFA to wipe clean all bookings going into the semi-finals of the Champions League final, a case backed up by Mikel.

The Nigerian, who could well benefit from the suspension of rival midfielders, Meireles and Ramires, by starting in the final, has revealed how those affected players were left with mixed feelings following the Barcelona victory.

“Yes, the yellow cards should be cancelled going into a final and UEFA should look into that. When you get to the final, everyone wants to see the best players, and it’s a shame that JT, Ivanovic, Meireles, and Ramires won’t play.

“The four players were devastated in the dressing room”, admitted Mikel, who now looks a cert to start the final.

“They’re happy for the team, but they are very disappointed to not be in the final. We will go out to win the trophy for them.”

The loss of such influential players will certainly weaken Chelsea, going into the final. Bayern were always going to be favourites on Betfair for this final, not least because they will be playing at their home ground, and that belief will only have strengthened with the suspension of the Londoners’ stars.

For more information on betting on the Champions League final, visit http://betting.betfair.com/football/champions-league-betting/.

Diego Simeone admitted his delight after leading Atletico Madrid into the Europa League final, an achievement made even more impressive when taking into consideration just how low the club were when the Argentine took over.

The former midfielder arrived at a club in disarray, when he took over at the start of the year. Gregorio Manzano was relieved of his duties, following a disappointing start to the season, with rumours of internal unrest and tactical disagreements. The Spaniard was shown the door, and former fan favourite, Simeone, was brought in from Racing Club.

Since arriving, Simeone has brought the best out of this Atletico team, finishing the La Liga season in encouraging form and now reaching the final of the Europa League. The coach has got all his major players heading the same way and focused on the same targets, giving the fans plenty of belief that happy times are returning to the club.

The former Argentine captain was delighted with his side’s performance, as they steam-rolled their way past Valencia 5-3 on aggregate. The result no doubt resulted in a few huge payouts on Betfairfootball.com. Simeone revealed reaching the final was reward for the whole club following a tough season.