Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 7-5, 7-5 Sunday to win the Monte Carlo Masters for a fourth consecutive year. For a second straight year, the Spaniard did not drop a set. Nadal has now beaten the top-ranked Federer three times in the final, improving his clay-court record over the Swiss star to 7-1 and 9-6 overall. Federer blew commanding positions in each set, breaking the second-ranked Nadal to lead 4-3 in the first and then racing to a 4-0 lead in the second. Federer committed too many unforced errors, surprisingly on his forehand, to let Nadal back into the match. The Spaniard has now won 22 consecutive matches at Monte Carlo since losing to Guillermo Coria in the third round five years ago. Federer was the last person to take a set from him in the 2006 final. Relying too hard on his forehand, Federer also missed routine volleys at the net, and made 44 unforced errors. But the Swiss seemed poised to level the match after hitting some near-perfect winners down the line and taking a 4-0 lead in the second set. Nadal even struggled to hold his serve in the fifth game, but then turned the match around. Having seen Nadal rally back to 4-3, Federer's game fell apart in the eighth game when he hit four consecutive unforced errors to lose his serve to love. A weak backhand gave Nadal the match point and he took it at the first opportunity, before sliding on his back and raising both fists in the air. Russia-Spain final Russia will meet Spain in the Fed Cup final chasing its fourth title in five years. Defending champion Russia beat the United States in Moscow while Spain overcame China in Beijing in the World Group semifinals. Vera Zvonareva rallied to beat Vania King 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first reverse singles to give the Russians an unbeatable 3-0 lead against a US team missing Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport. Spain also cruised into the final when Nuria Llagostera Vives beat Peng Shuai 6-4, 6-4 to take an unassailable lead over the Chinese. Llagostera Vives downed Zheng Jie 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday after the 132nd-ranked teenager Carla Suarez-Navarro had given Spain a surprise lead when she beat Peng 6-3, 7-6 (4). Zheng defeated Carla Suarez-Navarro 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the other reverse singles, before Llagostera Vives combined with Maria-Jose Martinez Sanchez in the doubles to top Peng and Tian-Tian Sun 6-2, 6-1 for her third victory in the best-of-five series. In matches to decide who plays in next year's World Group, Amelie Mauresmo coasted to a 6-1, 6-4 win over Ai Sugiyama in Tokyo to give France victory over Japan. Virginie Razzano then defeated Ayumi Morita 6-4, 6-4, before Sugiyama and Morita hit back in the doubles with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Mauresmo and Nathalie Dechy to make the final score 4-1. In other playoffs, Italy leads Ukraine 2-1, the Czech Republic is 2-1 up over Israel and Argentina and Germany are at 1-1.
