Good week, bad week

Roger Federer
The elegant Swiss maestro equalled a record at the weekend, matching Pete Sampras' total of career singles victories by beating Radek Stepanek 6-3 6-3 in the Sony Ericsson Open.

"It's nice tying Pete," said Federer, who drew level with Sampras on an astonishing 762 wins. "But [Sampras] could have played for many more years. He could still win some matches on tour now if he wanted to." Federer may be self-effacing, but the stat simply enhances his stature in the game.

Sebastian Vettel
The Grand Prix season began at the weekend with defending champion Vettel triumphing in Australia, eclipsing Brit Lewis Hamilton who finished second. "It was fantastic day for Sebastian and the team. He was dominant in qualifying and totally dominant today [Sunday]," said Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner.

BAD WEEK

England's cricket team
England slipped out of the World Cup in hugely disappointing fashion, losing to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets, leaving Andrew Strauss to mull over the captaincy issue.

"He'll understand that when he gets home he needs to decide what is best for the England team and the England set-up," observed former England captain Michael Vaughan. "He needs to ask himself if he needs to be doing that [being the captain] consistently, and will he be at the next World Cup in four year's time? You have to say he probably won't be."

South Africa's cricket team
The Proteas were brushed aside by New Zealand in the World Cup. The Kiwis batted first, making a commendable 221-8 with Jesse Ryder posting an impressive 83, before South Africa began their run-chase smoothly, reaching 108-2 after 24 overs. But then they collapsed and were all out for 172. "It's difficult to explain how I feel now," reflected Graeme Smith, who steps down from the ODI captaincy. "It's been a very disappointing evening.

Victoria Pendleton
Pendelton was eliminated from the keirin at the semi-final stage of the World Track Championship.

The 30-year-old, however, took the loss with a pinch of salt, saying London 2012 was her sole focus.

"The goal I'm looking for is an Olympic medal," she said. "None of this seems to matter in comparison. That's what I'm aiming for and that's what I'm dedicating my whole life towards."

Wolves
Wolves need a lot of character and luck to avoid the drop - and not key players languishing on the treatment table. But the Premier League's third-bottom bottom club were afflicted by the latter at the weekend, as their top scorer Kevin Doyle severely injured his knee during the Republic of Ireland's 2-1 win over Macedonia.

"It's his medial knee ligament," said his national manager, Giovanni Trapattoni. "I think he may be out for one or two months, so it's a very serious injury." Doyle, who has netted eight times for Wolves this season, may therefore miss the rest of the campaign.

Andy Murray
Disappointment currently seems to assail the Scot, with Murray's latest lost being at the hands of a qualifier, Alex Bogomolov Jr, in the Sony Ericsson Open.

Murray fell to a 6-1 7-5 defeat in the space of an hour and 35 minutes, succumbing to a second tournament exit in just two weeks having crashed out of the BNP Paribas Open.

"In practice I have been competing well," the Scot wrote on his website, "especially this week - chasing everything down, playing a lot of good points and feeling good. Then in matches I haven't been able to get it going at all."