Reuters Sports News Round Up: FIFA; Qatar World Cup; NBA; NFL; Olympic; Federer

FIFA head says Qatar World Cup to be best yet

FIFA President Gianni Infantino hailed Qatar's progress on infrastructure ahead of its 2022 World Cup and said the tournament is poised to be the best one yet during a visit to the next host nation on Tuesday. Qatar's tiny size, high temperatures and lack of ready stadium infrastructure have prompted some to question FIFA's decision to make it host, but the desert state has since launched huge construction projects and promised to complete seven new stadiums by 2020.

NBA notebook: Rondo denies spitting at Paul

Los Angeles Lakers guard Rajon Rondo remains steadfast that he did not intentionally spit at Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul on Saturday, which led to a brawl and suspensions for both players and Lakers forward Brandon Ingram. "This is the only time I'm going to address this," Rondo told ESPN on Tuesday. "I had a mouthpiece in my mouth and I (was) exasperated because I was about to tell him to 'get the (expletive) out of here.'"

Nunez blast powers Red Sox to Game One win over Dodgers

Eduardo Nunez slammed a three-run pinch-hit homer and Andrew Benintendi collected four hits to power the Boston Red Sox to an 8-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game One of the World Series on Tuesday. The first World Series meeting between the two iconic franchises in 112 years had been a seesaw battle until Nunez stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh and took Dodgers reliever Alex Wood over the Green Monster, cashing in Benintendi and J.D. Martinez.

NFL notebook: Carr defends himself, refutes a report

Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr refuted the assertion that he cried on the field after taking a hit during the team's Week 6 game against the Seattle Seahawks in London. A report from The Athletic on Monday detailed what's been termed a "fractured relationship" between Carr and his teammates and made reference to the game film that appears to show Carr crying after being sacked and injuring his arm against the Seahawks.

NBA roundup: Griffin scores 50 in Pistons' OT win

Blake Griffin scored a career-high 50 points, including a game-winning three-point play with 1.8 seconds left in overtime, and the Detroit Pistons edged the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 133-132 on Tuesday. Griffin, whose previous career best was 47 points, made 20 of 35 field-goal attempts and 5 of 11 free-throw attempts. He added 14 rebounds and six assists.

Surging Texans ready to tackle depleted Dolphins

Miraculous is too strong a word, but the early season turnaround orchestrated by the Texans has fashioned quite the unexpected result: Houston sits alone atop the AFC South. The next obstacle for the Texans (4-3), who survived three consecutive white-knuckle conclusions before extending their winning streak to four games with a two-touchdown road victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars last Sunday, is to overcome the difficulty of a short week of preparation for Miami.

Dodgers' Ryu hopes to add World Series glory to Olympic gold

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin says he will be ready to make his first World Series start on Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox, where he hopes to deliver a performance like the ones that helped South Korea capture Olympic gold in 2008. Last season the lefty from Incheon failed to make the Dodgers' World Series roster and could only watch from the dugout as his team fell in seven games to the Houston Astros.

Federer survives scare to beat Krajinovic in Basel opener

Top seed Roger Federer showed signs of ring rust in his first match at the Swiss Indoors on Tuesday but still had enough in the tank to push past unseeded Serbian Filip Krajinovic 6-2 4-6 6-4 and reach the last-16 in Basel. Playing in front of his home fans Federer struggled to find his usual precision, racking up 38 unforced errors, but still managed some produced his usual array of dazzling winners I a contest which stretched just past the two-hour mark.

Shurmur: Giants won't trade QB Manning

The New York Giants traded away a starter on Tuesday, but they won't be dealing their starting quarterback before the Oct. 30 deadline, head coach Pat Shurmur said. After cornerback Eli Apple was shipped to the New Orleans Saints, Shurmur was asked on a conference call with reporters if he expects Eli Manning to remain on the roster past next Tuesday.

NHL roundup: Crosby, Pens edge Oilers in OT

Sidney Crosby scored a highlight goal at 2:12 of overtime Tuesday to give the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins a 6-5 win over the Edmonton Oilers in a back-and-forth game. Crosby stickhandled all over the Oilers zone before backhanding the puck over the left pad of goaltender Cam Talbot for his second goal of the game. Patric Hornqvist and Jamie Oleksiak also scored twice for Pittsburgh.