Spain ousts defending champion U.S. from Davis Cup

Rafael Nadal ensured Spain’s berth in its sixth Davis Cup final, beating Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 Sunday in Madrid, Spain, for an insurmountable 3-1 lead over 2007 champion United States.

The top-ranked Nadal broke Roddick five times and served eight aces on the clay at Las Ventas bullfighting arena.

After the match, Nadal said that he nearly didn’t play because an MRI scan late Saturday showed a muscle strain in his backside.

Roddick, a former U.S. Open champion, fell to 0-5 in must-win Davis Cup matches and 0-4 against players ranked higher than him.

Argentina will host Spain in the Davis Cup final in November after Juan Martin del Potro defeated Igor Andreev in straight sets in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to beat Russia.

Del Potro won 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 Sunday in the fifth and final match.

In the day’s first match, Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko evened the score at 2-2 when he beat David Nalbandian 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-0.

•Safina moving up: Dinara Safina will move up to No. 3 in the world rankings after dominating Russian compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3 to win the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. The victory gave the fourth-seeded Safina her fourth WTA singles title this season, tying her with No. 1 Serena Williams for the most this year.

•Zvonareva wins in China: Vera Zvonareva won her seventh WTA Tour singles title, beating China’s Peng Shuai 6-7 (4), 6-0, 6-2 in the Guangzhou (China) International final.

Soccer

Iraqi team back in Baghdad

Iraq’s national soccer team resumed training in Baghdad for the first time since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

The team is coached by Brazilian Jorvan Viera, who led Iraq to the Asian Cup title last year. His contract has been extended a year.

Iraq sports adviser Bassam al-Husseini said the government has promised to not interfere in selecting players for the team.

Iraq has not played a home game in nearly two decades because of wars and sanctions. Since the invasion, the national squad has been training mostly in neighboring Jordan, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.

Miscellany

MacKenzie wins Viking

A day after blowing a lead with a triple bogey on the final hole, Will MacKenzie birdied the par-5 18th three straight times to win the Viking Classic in Madison, Miss., in a playoff for his second PGA Tour victory.

A free spirit who dropped out of golf for almost 10 years and lived in his van for five, MacKenzie beat Marc Turnesa on the second playoff hole after Brian Gay dropped out on the first extra hole.

•Willis edges Lagat: Olympic bronze medalist Nick Willis of New Zealand outleaned American Olympian Bernard Lagat to win the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile in New York. Willis finished in 3 minutes, 50.5 seconds to edge Lagat by 0.1 seconds. Great Britain Olympian Lisa Dobrisky finished in 4:18.6 for the women’s title.