Sports Digest/BOXING: Amir Khan continues his fast-track towards superstardom with a four-round contest against Walsall journeyman Steve Gethin at Glasgow's Braehead Arena tonight.
With his fourth professional bout already pencilled in for London's ExCel Arena next month, the 18-year-old has hardly had time to pause for thought.
But the Bolton star insists he is well aware that the likes of Gethin and previous opponents David Bailey and Baz Carey all see his scalp as a notable one to enhance their own careers.
"I have learned a lot from these fights against more experienced men than myself because they all come out wanting to beat me," said Khan yesterday.
"But knowing they want to beat me only makes me train harder so I know that I will not get the chance to get complacent. I definitely want these fights to raise my profile so it is very important that I impress. It is only four rounds so I have got to put on a good performance while it lasts."
Walsall 27-year-old Gethin has won just one of his last 10 fights and has largely campaigned in a lower weight category. Clearly the thinking is more about exposing an eager Khan to a Scottish audience for the first time rather than giving him something special to think about inside the ring.
TENNIS: Andy Roddick overcame his back problems to triumph over Spain's David Ferrer in a three-set battle and book his ticket to the Paris Masters Series' semi-finals.
The 23-year-old American needed two hours and 12 minutes to get rid of his rival 2-6 6-3 7-6 (10-8), fighting back from a 5-3 deficit in the third set and saving two match points in the tiebreak before wrapping up the match with a powerful serve. It is the second time in three years Roddick reached that stage of the competition.
In the semi-final Roddick will take on sixth seeded Croatian Ivan Ljubicic who was the first player of the day to book his berth in the last four, winning 7-6 (10-8) 3-6 6-1 against Spaniard Tommy Robredo.
MOTOR RACING: Former Formula One world champion Alan Jones has called on Australians to support their A1 Grand Prix team at Eastern Creek in Sydney this weekend.
Jones, who runs the Australian entry, is hoping a close fight for Australasian pride between his team and New Zealand will inspire a bumper crowd after disappointing turnouts in Germany and Portugal.
After a 40,000-strong crowd watched the season-opener at Brands Hatch, attendances slipped dramatically to leave a sea of empty grandstands at Lausitzring and Estoril.
"We hope the Australian people will come to support their national team and cheer them on in what will be a tough race for all involved," Jones said. "With such a small gap between Australia and New Zealand, we hope an energetic Aussie crowd will push our team on to achieve a podium position at our home race."
