Sports Digest:

A round-up of other sports news in brief

Top seeds find going tough in Tokyo

TENNIS: World number one Dinara Safina collapsed to a 7-6 4-6 7-5 defeat to Taiwanese qualifier Chang Kai-chen at the Pan Pacific Open yesterday.

Second seed Venus Williams also lost her opening match, toppled 7-6 7-5 by Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in front of an empty Tokyo centre court way past midnight local time.

Safina, dumped out of the US Open in the third round, struggled against a player 131 places below her in the world rankings.

French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova followed her compatriot out of the event. The fifth seed was upset 7-5 4-6 6-3 by Germany’s Andrea Petkovic, also a qualifier. But former Tokyo winner Maria Sharapova restored pride for Russia with a 4-6 7-5 6-1 win over Italy’s Francesca Schiavone.

Alonso's move to Ferrari may be confirmed in Japan

FORMULA ONE: Fernando Alonso could be confirmed as a Ferrari driver as early as next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.

The worst-kept secret in Formula One appears as if it will finally be revealed within the next seven days.

Alonso and Ferrari have been kept waiting while the outgoing Kimi Raikkonen has resolved the destination of his future. The Finn, who has a year remaining on his Ferrari deal, is poised to return to McLaren, with whom he spent five seasons from 2002-06.

Alonso, speaking after giving Renault their first podium of the year with his third-placed finish at the Singapore Grand Prix, said: “This doesn’t change anything. I made a decision already . . . and soon we will know.”

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali has suggested all the speculation could be brought to a close at some point in Japan.

“I think that as soon as we are ready we will let you know. We don’t want to wait too long,” said Domenicali.

Referring to the possibility of an announcement at Suzuka, he added: “It is a possibility, but it is not guaranteed.”

Bastareaud given community service  

RUGBY: France centre Mathieu Bastareaud has been ordered to do community service for lying about being attacked after a defeat by New Zealand in June.

The 21-year-old had said he was attacked by up to five people following a 14-10 loss to the All Blacks in Wellington. After being told CCTV footage showed him uninjured, he admitted lying and said he had fallen in his bedroom because he was drunk.

Bastareaud must do 18 activities for the benefit of amateur rugby before the end of June, 2010.

Going is slow at the Curragh

HORSE RACING: The Curragh authorities have proposed some alternative traffic arrangements to Kildare County Council in an effort to avoid delays at the end of race- days, writes Brian O’Connor.

There was widespread frustration after racing on Sunday with some customers complaining about being kept in car parks for up 40 minutes before being able to leave the Curragh. Back-ups from the Ballymany roundabout were blamed and track officials have proposed a slip-lane solution to the county council in order to avoid possible repeat problems.

“What we have noticed on some occasions on Sundays is that when the shopping centres in Newbridge close, a lot of traffic builds up at the Ballymany roundabout and that can coincide with the end of racing here,” said Curragh manager Paul Hensey yesterday.

A crowd of over 8,000 attended the Goffs Million race day last weekend.