PARIS, 27 September 2004 — Teenager Rafael Nadal led Spain into the Davis Cup final yesterday but then admitted he may face a bit-part role in December’s title clash with the United States.

Nadal beat Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 to give Spain an unassailable lead against France in their semifinal in Alicante yesterday, but he knows that former French Open champions Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya will resume singles duty in the final on home soil from Dec. 3-5.

“If necessary I can play singles and doubles,” said the 18-year-old. “But I think Ferrero and Moya are still favorites to play the singles if they’re playing well.”

Spain, who will be playing in their second successive Davis Cup final, eventually sealed a 4-1 win against France when Tommy Robredo beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-4.

Cheered on by 8,500 spectators in the Alicante bull ring Nadal wrapped up victory in two hours 14 minutes. It will be the fifth Davis Cup final for Spain who were runners-up in 1965, 1967 and 2003, and winners in 2000.

United States led Belarus 4-0 after yesterday’s first reverse singles match in their semifinal in Charleston with Andy Roddick sweeping aside Belarussian Alexander Skrypko 6-4, 6-2. The United States wrapped up their match against Belarus by opening up a 3-0 lead when twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan beat Max Mirnyi and Vladimir Voltchkov 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 to book a final berth for the first time since 1997.

The United States have won a record 31 Davis Cup titles, but haven’t won the Cup since 1995, when they beat Russia in the final. In 1997, Sweden whitewashed them 5-0 in the final. “I really look forward to the challenge of going to Spain,” US captain Patrick McEnroe said.

Meanwhile, Austria condemned Great Britain to the Euro Africa Zone when they won their playoff 3-2 in Portschach. Austria, coached by former world No. 1 Thoams Muster, opened up a 2-1 lead when Alexander Peya and Julian Knowle finished off their delayed doubles with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 win against Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski before Henman beat Melzer 0-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7 4), 6-2 to level the tie at 2-2.

But Stefan Koubek easily defeated Rusedski, hampered by a hand injury, 7-6 (7 2), 6-4, 7-5 in the deciding singles to put Austria into the elite World Group in 2005.

Slovakia beat Germany 3-2 to also make the World Group when veteran Karol Kucera, a late call-up, beat Florian Mayer 6-4, 6-0, 6-2. Germany had led after Saturday’s doubles after Tommy Haas and Alexander Waske edged Dominik Hrbaty and Kucera 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3. But Hrbaty pulled his team level yesterday beating Haas 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 to pave the way for Kucera’s heroics.

Elsewhere, Andrei Pavel clinched a spot for Romania in the World Group for 2005 with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over Canada’s Frank Dancevic in Bucharest, giving Romania an unassailable 3-1 lead.

Australia reaffirmed their Davis Cup credentials yesterday, wrapping up their tie with Morocco 4-1 in Perth to ensure a place in the draw in Madrid next week.

But Morocco salvaged some pride with an upset 6-2, 6-3 win for Mounir El Aarej over Todd Reid before doubles specialist Todd Woodbridge finished off the Moroccans with a 6-0, 6-2 thumping of world No. 1022 Mehdi Ziadi.

Japan’s Davis Cup coach Bob Brett put on a brave face after his team predictably slumped to defeat at the hands of Chile’s Olympic champions Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez in Vina Del Mar. Chile returned to the World Group after a 20-year absence as Massu and Gonzalez took less than two hours on Saturday to win the crucial doubles 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 against the Japanese pair of Takao Suzuki and Thomas Shimada.

In Moscow, Russia completed a 5-0 whitewash of Thailand, Croatia enjoyed a 3-2 win against Belgium in Rijeka while the Czech Republic opened up an unbeatable 3-0 lead against Paraguay in Ascuncion.

Serena Celebrates Birthday

With China Open Title

Top seed Serena Williams celebrated her 23rd birthday yesterday by beating Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in a tightly fought and bad tempered final at the inaugural $585,000 China Open.

Williams, who smashed her racket berating a line call in the first set and saved a match point in the second, used a blistering serve and a powerful ground stroke to overpower the reigning US Open champion and second seed Kuznetsova.

“I think the key to the victory was that I never gave up, I really didn’t want to lose today,” Williams said.

The American’s strength proved all too much, jumping out to a 5-2 lead in the final set as her Russian opponent appeared to run out of gas, slamming her racket onto the court in disgust after one bad shot.

The win gave Williams a second WTA title in an injury hampered 2004, and earned her a check for $93,000.

Kuznetsova, ranked five in the world, saw her 14-match winning streak snapped, a run that included the Wismilak title in Bali last week and the US Open earlier this month.