Misfiring Nadal routed by Nalbandian

Second-ranked Rafael Nadal, coming off a five-week layoff because of ailing knees, lost to David Nalbandian, 6-1, 6-2, yesterday in the Madrid Masters quarterfinals. This was Nadal's most lopsided defeat in three years. The Spaniard, who sat out after the US Open because of tendinitis, had five winners and 29 unforced errors against Nalbandian. "It's hard to play worse, which makes it a lot easier to go forward from this," Nadal said. "I didn't go in with a clear enough idea of the match I wanted to play." World No. 1 Roger Federer downed Feliciano Lopez, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Lopez committed 34 unforced errors . . . Justine Henin reached the Zurich Open semifinals by defeating Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4, 6-2. Henin, seeking her ninth title of the year, is 56-4 in matches this season and has reached the semifinals in every tournament she has played since April 2006. Francesca Schiavone advanced when second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova retired with an ailing right shoulder injury while trailing, 6-3, 3-3.

Marat Safin, who helped Russia win Davis Cup tennis titles in 2002 and 2006, will miss the final against the United States after cutting his season short. Safin ruled himself out of the Nov. 30-Dec. 2 final in Portland, Ore., following his first-round exit at the Madrid Masters Tuesday. The former top-ranked player, who has won US Open and Australian Open titles, says he is worn out after a trekking expedition in Tibet last month.

Mavericks forward Josh Howard was suspended for the first two games of the regular season, punishment for a fight with Kings center Brad Miller in Tuesday's exhibition game. Howard was ejected after delivering a forearm to the back of Miller's neck. He also pushed Miller, who had shoved Dallas guard Devin Harris to the ground. The Mavericks open the season at Cleveland Oct. 31 . . . Reggie Miller, who decided against a comeback bid at 42 years old with the Celtics, will team with Marv Albert as Turner Network Television's top NBA announcing team.

Points leader Jeff Gordon won the pole for NASCAR's Subway 500 tomorrow at Martinsville, Va., at 94.974 miles per hour on the 0.526-mile circuit. The pole is the 63d of Gordon's career, his seventh this season and sixth at Martinsville. Jimmie Johnson, 68 points back in second halfway through the 10-race Chase, will start fourth . . . Three-time Alpine skiing Olympian Caroline Lalive's comeback was cut short when she suffered a season-ending knee injury Tuesday while training in Pitztal, Austria. The 28-year-old was coming back from a 2006 pre-Olympic injury when she crashed during a training run, the US Ski Team announced . . . The US Olympic Committee is urging Marion Jones's relay teammates to return their medals - a stance that could bolster the United States's reputation as it bids for the 2016 Olympics. Chairman Peter Ueberroth reasserted his belief at a USOC meeting in Houston that the medals Jones won with her relay partners at the 2000 Sydney Games were won unfairly and should be returned . . . Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux will get $21 million as part of the team's settlement of its 1990s bankruptcy. Lemieux was owed $32 million in deferred compensation when he retired in 1997. He won't get additional money on the contract and is believed to be the only unsecured creditor to get less than 100 percent of money owed . . . The Thrashers placed goalie Kari Lehtonen (strained groin) on the injured list.