Rafael Nadal put Spain into the Davis Cup final after demolishing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-0, 6-2, 6-4 for an insurmountable lead against France in their semifinal encounter. Nadal complained of fatigue coming into the series but showed no symptoms as he dominated the 10th-ranked Frenchman on the outdoor clay at Cordoba's bullring to give the host a chance at a third title in four years. Spain won 4-1 after Fernando Verdasco beat Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-1 in the final reverse singles. Tsonga replaced Gilles Simon for the reverse singles match after an impressive doubles victory but was frustrated by 50 unforced errors, especially a misfiring backhand as France won just 16 games over three singles matches. The victory avenged Spain's 5-0 whitewash by France in last year's quarterfinals. Spain will host Argentina in the Dec. 2-4 final after Novak Djokovic retired while trailing to Juan Martin del Potro in the fourth singles rubber for the Argentines to set an insurmountable 3-1 lead. Tsonga's erratic play against a player who has won 32 titles on clay left little doubt over the result as Nadal served out the victory in 2 hours, 17 minutes when Tsonga shot wide. Nadal, who never faced a break point, is now 14-0 on clay and 18-1 in Davis Cup singles play. Nadal was a member of three of Spain's four title-winning teams and leads it into its sixth final since 2000 and eighth overall. The final will take place in Spain with Valencia and Madrid reportedly interested in hosting the event. In Sydney, meanwhile, fading light forced the suspension of the Australia-Switzerland Davis Cup World Group playoff Sunday with Lleyton Hewitt and Stanislas Wawrinka into the final set of the deciding match. Switzerland's Wawrinka led 5-3 in the fifth set when the match referee decided it was too dark to continue. The two players will come back Monday to complete the match, with Wawrinka leading 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 5-3. World No. 3 Roger Federer earlier leveled the best-of-five tie at 2-2 when he beat Bernard Tomic in four sets 6-2, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Japan, however, stormed back into the Davis Cup World Group for the first time in nearly three decades Sunday after Kei Nishikori defeated Vishnu Vardhan to give the host an insurmountable 3-1 lead over India. Erakovic in final In Quebec City, New Zealand's Marina Erakovic overcame a slow start to beat No. 3 seed Tamira Paszek 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the Bell Challenge semifinals Saturday. Erakovic next faces sixth-seeded Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who edged Michaella Krajicek 6-4, 6-3.
