Costa retires FORMER French Open champion Albert Costa's career has come to an end after his defeat to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the third round of the Barcelona Open. The 30-year-old, who last week said he would retire from tennis after this event, fought back after a poor opening set but ended up losing 6-1 5-7 7-5. Costa won 12 career titles and defeated Ferrero to win the French Open in 2002. Meanwhile, third seed Guillermo Coria served 14 double faults on the way to a 6-2 6-0 loss to Nicolas Almagro. Coria, who reached the final of the French Open in 2004, has had problems with his serve of late and last week he recorded 23 double faults in one match in Monte Carlo. "I have had problems on my serve ever since my operation in 2004 and I know it is not back to where it was," said the world number nine seed. "It is all about confidence. But I am working with coach Jose Higueras and I hope that in three or four weeks I will be playing at a high level again. "The good thing is that if I am still winning matches when I am giving away so many gifts, then that shows my basic game is good." Spaniard Costa had recorded wins over Vince Spadea and eighth seed Dominik Hrbaty in the previous rounds before coming up against compatriot Ferrero. After a one-sided opening set, Costa was able to level the score but Ferrero gained the vital break in the 11th game of the decider and served out for victory. Fifth seed David Ferrer continued Spain's disappointing day when he lost 2-6 6-2 6-1 to Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka. Schumacher deciding MICHAEL Schumacher is pondering staying in Formula One for two more years, says Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo. Di Montezemolo said Schumacher was trying to decide whether he would want to race in 2008, when he will be 39. "I think Michael wants to continue for a year, but not to find himself in five months' time facing the same questions he has now," Di Montezemolo said. "It would suit him to sign for another two years, but he is assessing whether he will still want to race in 2008." Schumacher's Ferrari contract expires at the end of this season, and Di Montezemolo, who was speaking to Italy's Gazzetto dello Sport newspaper, said he expected the German to decide his future before the end of May. "It's up to him to decide and he knows that if he wants to stay for two years then we will agree. He has to say it," Di Montezemolo said. "Having a competitive car helps, but Michael had already realised that (was the case before he won the last race at Imola). "His future depends more on his head than on Ferrari." Di Montezemolo said he was not worried about a lack of drivers, regardless of Schumacher's decision. Ferrari are widely believed to have a pre-contractual letter of intent with McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, and world motorcycle champion Valentino Rossi is also considering a switch to F1. "I am of the opinion that one does not have to risk indigestion in life but abundance is always to be preferred. We do not have a driver problem today," Di Montezemolo said. "We will talk to Rossi in the coming weeks to make a decision. With Raikkonen, there is absolutely nothing other than the fact that we believe he is one of the best three (drivers) at the moment." Montgomery charged FORMER US sprint star Tim Montgomery has been arrested in connection with a multi-million bank fraud and money laundering scheme, prosecutors say. Montgomery and several other people were charged in a grand jury indictment unsealed in New York. They are charged with participating in a conspiracy to defraud banks by depositing some $5m in stolen, altered or counterfeit cheques. Montgomery, 31, ran 9.78 seconds to break the 100m world record in 2002. He was also part of the winning 4X100m US relay team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Montgomery announced his retirement from athletics last December. The move came after he had been handed a two-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for taking banned substances from US laboratory Balco. The former champion later asked the CAS to annul the ban because of an alleged conflict of interest. Farewell Pipe TRAINER Martin Pipe has shocked the racing world by announcing his immediate retirement from the sport. The 60-year-old will hand over the reins at his Nicholashayne yard in Somerset to his son David. Pipe's retirement comes on the final day of the jump racing season, when chief rival Paul Nicholls will take the champion trainer title. Pipe secured his 15th National Hunt trainers' crown last year, narrowly beating Nicholls into second place. It was no secret David was due to take over from his father but it had been thought that Martin would continue into next season at least. But speaking on Channel 4's The Morning Line, Pipe said: "I've not been in the best of health lately and I've taken the decision that it's time for David to take over. "I'd like to be remembered for training horses who tried their best. I got a great thrill out of getting horses to enjoy their racing and getting them to try their best." The son of a bookmaker, Pipe was an amateur rider until breaking his thigh in 1972. He took out a trainer's license three years later and saddled his first winner in 1975, although he did not become champion trainer until 1989, when he had 208 winners, almost double the previous record. In all he trained 3,902 winners over the jumps, including the Grand National in 1994 with Miinnehoma, and 256 on the flat, with an outstanding record at the Cheltenham Festival.
