Kaka decision on Monday, says Berlusconi

A decision on the future of AC Milan playmaker Kaka will be taken on Monday, club owner Silvio Berlusconi said on Wednesday. Milan's forward Ricardo Kaka jubilates after he scores at a Serie A match. Real Madrid and Chelsea, now coached by former Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti, have both been linked in the media with world record deals for the 27-year-old Brazilian.

"I will talk with Kaka next Monday and on Monday I will be able to reveal the decision," he told the recording of an Italian television programme. "It is early to think about what happens next." Chelsea denied on Wednesday they had made an offer for the player, which Sky Sports News reported as a bid of 73.5 million pounds ($122 million).

"We have never made an offer to AC Milan for Kaka and therefore not one of this extraordinary level," the Premier League club said in a statement on their website (www.chelseafc.com). "As a consequence we have not discussed a salary with the player either. Any reports to the contrary are untrue."

Italian prime minister Berlusconi compared the situation to the sale of Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko to Chelsea in 2006. "I can only say that we were very attached to Sheva," he said. "When an offer arrived that we could not equal, because I had a great friendship with him, I did all I could to convince him but in the end I left it up to him.

"It is always our lads who must decide where they want to play. Now we will see." Kaka, the 2007 world player of the year, almost joined Manchester City in January for a world record fee in excess of 100 million euros ($142 million). However, he opted to stay at the San Siro despite Milan sanctioning the move.

Berlusconi has said it will again be difficult to hold onto the player given the amount of money involved but Kaka reiterated on Monday that he wanted to stay with Milan, who finished third in Serie A this term. Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani, who said economic factors were hurting the club when he unveiled new coach Leonardo on Monday, fuelled the transfer rumours on Tuesday when he was spotted in Madrid.

The Rossoneri said he was solely there as a guest for the re-election dinner of Real president Florentino Perez, who has long courted Kaka. A sprinkling of Milan fans protested against the sale of Kaka outside the club's city centre offices on Wednesday.

Federer silences Monfils to book semis spot

World number two Roger Federer was back to his brilliant best as he eased past local favourite Gael Monfils 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 to book his place in the French Open semi-finals on Wednesday. The Swiss will play his 20th consecutive grand slam semi-final against either Argentine fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro or Spain's Tommy Robredo, seeded 16th.

After three successive matches in which he dropped sets, Federer finally found his groove on Wednesday, much to the frustration of Monfils. Federer, the hot favourite after four-time champion Rafael Nadal was knocked out in the fourth round, saved a set point in the first-set tiebreak before clinching it 8-6 with a forehand volley winner.

It was then much easier for the Swiss, who is gunning for the only major title to have eluded him. He broke Monfils in the first and third games of the second set, moving the 11th-seeded Frenchman from left to right and often finishing off the points at the net.

Monfils called on the trainer at change of ends before the decider as he appeared to be in distress. Federer, who is chasing a record-equalling 14th grand slam crown, snatched the decisive break in the ninth game when the Frenchman netted a forehand.

He put him out of his misery on his first match point with a backhand winner after two hours 10 minutes. "I was very nervous before this match, yesterday and today," said Federer. "But I have a lot of experience. I know that when I step on the court, I will play well. Or very well."

Federer ran into a spot of bother when he contested a call following a Monfils dropshot that appeared to be wide. He was briefly booed by the 15,000-capacity Centre Court crowd but normal service quickly resumed. "It is very important to me, to have the crowd with me," he said.

Kaka signs for Real Madrid

Brazilian playmaker Kaka has signed for Real Madrid from AC Milan in a 65-million-euro deal, Spanish radio station Cadena Ser reported on Tuesday. Newly-installed Real president Florentino Perez sealed the deal with AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani and Bosco Leite, father and agent of the 2007 world and European player of the year, Cadena Ser said.

Kaka, currently in Brazil with the national team ahead of a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay, will sign up for five years and a salary worth nine million euros a year, it added. AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi had hinted at 27-year-old Kaka's departure moments before Cadena Ser had claimed he was indeed moving.

"I do not know if we can keep Kaka at Milan because they (Real) have offered him so much money," Berlusconi was quoted as saying by Italian press agency Ansa. It comes on the same day as Kaka - who was courted by English Premiership side Manchester City back in January - was telling La Gazzetto dello Sport he had no intention of quitting Milan.

"I'll tell you this for the last time, the very last. I don't want to leave Milan. To the millions of Milan fans, I tell you that I've made my choice. I've said I want to stay. Leave me in peace, please," Kaka told La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. "I want to continue to win with Milan. And from today, all discussion is over."

Should his transfer be confirmed officially it comes a day after Milan lost their coach Carlo Ancelotti, who agreed to take over as manager of English FA Cup winners Chelsea. It had been hoped that his connection with Milan would have persuaded Kaka to also move, but those hopes appear to have been dashed.

Federer keen to avoid burden of expectation

Roger Federer is just three wins away from both a career Grand Slam and joining Pete Sampras as a 14-time major winner, but he's desperate to avoid sinking beneath a tidal wave of expectations. With four-time champion Rafael Nadal, who defeated the great Swiss star in the last three finals here, beaten for the first time at Roland Garros, Federer has been widely-tipped to cruise to a first French Open title.

That would make him only the sixth man in history to have won all four Grand Slam titles. But the 27-year-old insists that Rafa or no Rafa, there is still work to be done on the claycourts which have, year in, year out, resembled more of a scrapyard for him than a playground.

"I'm used to any kind of a situation, so (Nadal's defeat) doesn't affect me in a big way," said Federer who battled back 6-7 (4/7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 to beat German veteran Tommy Haas in the fourth round on Monday. "You are aware of it. You try and stay in the draw, but at the end of the day you're focusing on your shots and your match and on how you play and the game plan against that player."

If Federer can get past French 11th seed Gael Monfils on Wednesday and then either Juan Martin Del Potro or Tommy Robredo in the semi-finals, he may start thinking that finally the tennis gods, at least those in this south-west corner of Paris, are on his side.

"I think if you make it to the final then it's a different scenario because whoever I play then I probably have a decent record against which wouldn't be the case with Rafa, knowing that he has all the experience and the confidence of winning here," said Federer. "Definitely it changes it up if I were to make the final. But we're not there yet."

Federer, with five Wimbledon, five US Open and three Australian Open victories, has known nothing but heartache in Paris. Nadal has swept past him in the last three finals while in 2004, the year before the Spaniard began his remarkable domination, Federer lost in the third round to an inspired former champion Gustavo Kuerten.

That defeat was the last time he failed to get at least to a semi-final at a Grand Slam. Federer also insists that Nadal will be back and warns players like Robin Soderling, whose defeat of the champion sent shockwaves through tennis, they need to keep proving they can compete.

"It's not an easy task, because how often does it happen in your life?," said the world number two. "It happens just a few times, and it's hard to back them up. I went through it when I beat Sampras at Wimbledon and then lost to Tim (Henman). I didn't play that bad against Tim, but you just realize that not only Sampras can play tennis, but Henman can and there are so many other players that play so well.

"Just because you beat this one particular player, it doesn't mean you're going to now beat everybody easily. You have to keep on playing dream tennis, and that's a hard thing to do sometimes." Wednesday's second quarter-final sees fifth-seeded Argentine Del Potro facing Spanish 16th seed Robredo who is playing in his fourth last eight clash here.

This is Del Potro's first Roland Garros quarter-final and follows similar runs at the US Open and Australian Opens. Del Potro, just 20 and the youngest man left in the men's tournament, takes a 1-0 career lead over the 27-year-old Robredo into his tie. "He is specialized on clay, and so far his season has been excellent," said Del Potro.

Robredo reached the last eight here in 2003, 2005 and 2007 and the has the most claycourt wins this season with a 25-6 record.

Holder Ivanovic blames dizziness for defeat

Holder Ana Ivanovic relinquished her French Open crown after suffering dizzy spells in a 6-2, 6-3 defeat by Belarussian teenager Victoria Azarenka on Sunday. The Serb, who has suffered a dip in form since winning at Roland Garros last year and has slipped from number one to eighth in the world, said she had started to feel unwell after the first point in the fourth game when she was a break down.

"I just suddenly started feeling so dizzy, and I completely lost my balance," Ivanovic told a news conference after the fourth-round defeat. "Ever since then it was really hard. I struggled with looking up. I started feeling very dizzy, and I was struggling a little bit to find my balance."

After struggling with a knee injury before the claycourt grand slam and with rivals Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova in blistering form, Ivanovic's departure was never going to make the sort of splash men's champion Rafael Nadal's exit did.

"I don't know if I can say that I'm surprised that I beat Ana, because I think I deserve to beat her. I played very well," said Azarenka. "I didn't let her play her game. I was just being I think too aggressive. "It's the first time I ever made the quarter-finals (of a grand slam). It's something really big for me. It's a new step, and I'm just really looking forward for the challenge to see how well I with do in my next step."

The ninth-seeded Azarenka, who has won three titles this year, took command after breaking in the third game and clinched the first set when Ivanovic's forehand clipped the netcord and bounced back into her side of the court. The 19-year-old Belarussian surged to a 5-2 lead in the second before Ivanovic, her title hanging by a thread, fought back with a couple of excellent passing shots and a dropshot to break.

Despite the crowd cheering "Ana, Ana", her resistance was short-lived as Azarenka served out the match to set up a quarter-final against world number one Safina, who has torn through the draw dropping just five games along the way. "She was just killing people so far," said Azarenka. "I just need to get ready, really well and play my best tennis to beat her."