One-third of World Cup tickets unsold

The world soccer's governing body says one-third of World Cup tickets remain unsold less than five months before the first tournament in South Africa.

About 1 million of the 3 million tickets are still available, FIFA officials said Wednesday. South Africans and Americans had made the most bids for tickets in the third round of sales, which will be settled by lottery on Monday.

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke dismissed concerns that South Africa - notorious for its high crime rates - would be dangerous for visiting fans.

"Don't kill the World Cup before the World Cup is taking place," Valcke said. "I mean give us a chance. Give South Africa a chance to organize a great World Cup. Give a chance to people to fly to South Africa and don't tell them every day that they should not fly to South Africa."

FIFA has received 1.2 million ticket applications from 192 countries for the Feb. 1 draw and said that the semifinal and final matches are attracting the most demand.

U.S. residents sent in some 50,000 applications. Two ticket draws remain before the World Cup begins June 11.

Valcke's words echoed those of South African President Jacob Zuma. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zuma said Wednesday that his country would ensure the safety of fans.

South Africa has one of the world's highest murder rates, with at least 50 people killed each day. The country plans to beef up police and training by investing in high-tech equipment and crime-busting surveillance to combat crime as well as threats from terrorists and hooligans.

Swiss star Federer shows timing is everything

With two of the three men to have beaten Roger Federer in the last 19 majors already out of the Australian Open, the Swiss star had a new threat to face.

Nikolay Davydenko's 13-match winning streak was the hottest on the tour and included two wins over Federer during title runs at the season-ending championships in November and the season-opening event at Doha earlier this month.

The Russian unloaded everything he had on Federer for a set and a half Wednesday and was suddenly in uncharted territory at a Grand Slam tournament.

That's when a bit of gamesmanship and a lot of big-match experience helped Federer switch gears and win 13 straight games en route to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5 victory that sent Davydenko packing to join Federer's former Grand Slam conquerors: No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal and No. 4-ranked Juan Martin del Potro. No. 3 Novak Djokovic was ousted only hours later.

From AP wire. For more, visit the Associated Press online.