Approach shots: Nadal nears No. 1

Rafael Nadal is showing no signs of cooling off this summer. Making a smooth transition from grass to hardcourt, the Spaniard won his 29th consecutive match and fifth straight tournament, routing Nicolas Kiefer, 6-3, 6-2, yesterday in the Rogers Cup final in Toronto. The second-seeded Spaniard, playing his first event since an epic five-set victory over Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final July 6, won his 30th career title. Nadal was the last seed standing in a tournament in which top-ranked Federer, No. 4 seed Nikolay Davydenko, No. 5 David Ferrer, and No. 6 Andy Roddick got bounced early, and defending champ Novak Djokovic exited in the quarterfinals. Nadal arrived in Toronto 770 points behind Federer but trimmed the deficit to 300 and will have a chance to topple the Swiss from the top spot he has held since 2004 at this week's Masters Series stop in Mason, Ohio . . . Russian Dinara Safina won her first title on US soil with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Flavia Pennetta in the East West Bank Classic final in Carson, Calif. . . . Sara Errani won her second title in three weeks by defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-3, 6-3, in the Slovenia Open final in Portoroz . . . Nathan Healey and Yaroslava Shvedova won at singles as the New York Buzz took the World TeamTennis championship with a 21-18 victory over the Kansas City Explorers in Roseville, Calif.

Mets manager Jerry Manuel hopes Pedro Martínez will be ready to start Friday night against Houston. The three-time Cy Young Award winner has been on the bereavement list since his father died last week after battling brain cancer. Martinez hasn't pitched since leaving his July 12 start with a sore shoulder and tightness in his groin. Brandon Knight was designated for assignment so the Mets could add an extra arm to their bullpen after a 14-inning loss to St. Louis Saturday. Knight, who will head to Beijing as a member of the US Olympic team, said he would have preferred to stay with New York, where the 32-year-old filled in admirably for Martínez before leaving after five innings with a 5-4 lead Saturday. The Mets called up lefthander Willie Collazo from Triple A New Orleans. . . . The Baltimore Orioles optioned struggling rookie lefthander Radhames Liz to Triple A Norfolk . . . Jose Guillen was held out of the lineup after he reinjured his left groin running out a single in the Kansas City Royals' loss to Tampa Bay Saturday.

Two female Chinese gymnasts, including a gold-medal favorite, might be too young to participate in the upcoming Beijing Olympics. Several online records and reports show He Kexin, the host nation's top competitor on uneven bars, and Jiang Yuyuan might not yet be 16, the minimum age for Olympic eligibility. Both were chosen for China's team last week. On the website of the Chengdu Sports Bureau, a file dated January 2006 shows He as being born Jan. 1, 1994. Most recently, a May 23 story in the China Daily newspaper had He's age as 14. The New York Times raised questions about the athletes' ages in a story Saturday and Chinese officials provided the newspaper with copies of passports indicating both gymnasts are 16. The American and Chinese women are expected to battle for the team gold medal when the Beijing Games begin Aug. 8 . . . Three-time discus world champion Franka Dietzsch will skip the Beijing Games after a series of health problems. The 40-year-old German was diagnosed with high blood pressure several months ago . . . Fletcher Thornton, a high-ranking US judo official, resigned amid accusations that nearly 30 years ago he molested teenage competitors he coached.

Kenny Cooper, who reportedly soon will be bound for Cardiff City on a $4 million transfer, scored twice in the first half as host FC Dallas crushed the Los Angeles Galaxy, 4-0 . . . Goals by Steven Lenhart and Jason Garey lifted the visiting Columbus Crew to a 2-0 win over the Colorado Rapids . . . English import Darren Huckerby scored his first career MLS goal, helping the host San Jose Earthquakes earn a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls . . . Jon Busch made eight saves to help the visiting Chicago Fire tie the Kansas City Wizards, 0-0.

Former Mystic Asjha Jones scored 27 points to lead the Connecticut Sun to their third straight win, 82-60 over host Washington. In other WNBA games, the host Seattle Storm ended the Sacramento Monarchs' seven-game winning streak, 77-71; the visiting New York Liberty beat the Atlanta Dream, 86-76; the San Antonio Silver Stars handed the host Detroit Shock their fourth straight loss, 76-64; the visiting Los Angeles Sparks beat the Minnesota Lynx, 92-84; and the visiting Indiana Fever beat the Phoenix Mercury, 88-84 . . . Looking to fill the void left when Josh Childress bolted for Greece, the Atlanta Hawks are close to completing a deal with free agent Maurice Evans, a person within the league, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press. Evans started 47 times for the Magic last season and averaged 9.3 points . . . Matt D'Orazio threw seven touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead the Philadelphia Soul to their first Arena Bowl victory, 59-56, over the defending AFL champion San Jose SaberCats in New Orleans . . . Off Marblehead, hometown sailor Justin Scott won the Viper 640 class at the National Offshore One Design Regatta . . . Jockey Kent Desormeaux won his 5,000th race, riding Bella Attrice to victory at Saratoga Race Course . . . Tadesse Tola of Ethiopia (1 hour 58 seconds) and Catherine Ndereba of Kenya (1:10:19) were the winners of the New York City Half-Marathon . . . Francisco Javier Fernandez set a world record in the 10,000-meter race walk with a time of 37:53.09 at the Spanish nationals in the Canary Islands, beating the mark set by Italy's Ivano Brugnetti at the 2004 Olympics by five seconds . . . Antonio Margarito survived his opponent's early dominance and stopped Miguel Cotto in the 11th round, claiming the World Boxing Association's 147-pound title with two knockdowns Saturday night in Las Vegas.