Upset Win Over Safin Is Special for Spadea

Vince Spadea pulled off an upset Saturday and may be on the verge of another one.

Playing himself into contention for a spot on the U.S. Davis Cup team, Spadea beat Marat Safin, 7-6 (7), 6-7 (4), 6-4, in the second round of the Nasdaq-100 Open at Key Biscayne, Fla.

The victory came on the heels of Spadea’s first tournament title two weeks ago, the Franklin Templeton Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz. At age 29, the 14-year pro would be an improbable choice for the Davis Cup squad that will face Sweden next month.

“It would mean a lot and would be a great thrill,” said Spadea, ranked 36th. “I’ve won two rounds here, you know. I haven’t won Wimbledon or anything ... but I feel like I deserve a chance. If it’s not this time, maybe I’ll be ranked even higher the next time.”

He’s definitely on the rise. The title at Scottsdale came in his 223rd tournament. On Thursday he beat James Blake, who played in the Davis Cup last year. And his steady baseline play stymied Safin, runner-up at the Australian Open.

“Coming back for a good win like this is just great timing after the momentum I had from Scottsdale,” Spadea said. “If I was to represent my country, I would prove worthy with the results I’m having right now.”

On Monday, U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe will announce his team, which will include Andy Roddick in singles and Bob and Mike Bryan in doubles.

Roddick showed he’s ready for the Davis Cup, and perhaps a title run at Key Biscayne. Seeded second, he overpowered Karol Beck, 6-2, 6-4. Roddick aced Beck with a 147-mph serve, which tied for the fourth-fastest ever and was 3 mph shy of the record he set in January. In the women’s draw, second-seeded Venus Williams successfully began her bid for a fourth Key Biscayne title. Limited to seven matches since July because of injuries, she double-faulted six times but defeated Jie Zheng, 6-4, 6-4.

Motor Racing

Martin Truex Jr. won his first NASCAR Busch Series race, pulling away in his Chevrolet after a restart nine laps from the finish in a race that ended under caution at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Truex, in his 20th race and first full season in the Busch Series, gave Chance 2 Motorsports co-owners Dale Earnhardt Jr. and stepmother Teresa Earnhardt their first Busch Series victory by a driver other than Earnhardt.

NASCAR stopped the Sharpie Professional 250 for about eight minutes after Robby Gordon’s Chevrolet ran into the back of Tim Fedewa’s Chevrolet and spewed water from a broken radiator on lap 233 of the 250-lap event.

As the field finished the race, Mike Bliss, who was running second, apparently got confused and pulled into the pits on the front straightaway, giving up the runner-up spot to Kevin Harvick. Bliss wound up driving across the finish line on pit road and in 17th.

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Former Formula One and CART driver Alex Zanardi turned in the eighth-fastest time qualifying for today’s FIA European Touring Car Championship opener at Monza, Italy.

Zanardi, who lost both legs in a crash during a CART series race in Germany three years ago, drove a specially modified BMW car, and was 1.8 seconds behind defending series champion Gabriele Tarquini.

Zanardi, who operated the car’s accelerator and gear by hand and used his thigh to apply the specially adapted brakes, turned a fast lap of 2:00.273. He’ll start on the fourth row in the two-race event. Tarquini won the pole in 1:58.395.

Swimming

Auburn closed out its second consecutive NCAA Division I men’s swimming and diving championship with a meet record in the 400-meter freestyle relay in East Meadow, N.Y. The Tigers defended their team title with a record 634 points, two better than the 632 by Stanford in 1992. Stanford was runner-up with 377.5, followed by Texas (374), Arizona (322) and Michigan (271).

Miscellany

Sven Ottke retained his World Boxing Assn. and International Boxing Federation super-middleweight titles with a unanimous decision over Swedish challenger Armand Kranjc at Magdeburg, Germany, then announced his retirement at age 36.

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Tina Thompson had 27 points and 12 rebounds to lead the U.S. women’s national team to a 67-59 victory over EuroLeague Final Four competitor MiZo Pecsi VSK in Pecs, Hungary.

The Americans (8-0) complete their six-game European tour today against the Hungarian national team in Budapest.

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Freshman Ian Kennedy (4-0) pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings in USC’s 5-0 nonconference victory over UCLA at Dedeaux Field. He gave up seven hits, struck out eight and walked one.

Bruin starter Bryan Beck (2-2) gave up four hits and one unearned run in 5 1/3 innings. The Trojans (12-13) extended their winning streak at home over the Bruins (13-10) to 11 games.

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John Fitzgerald threw six touchdown passes to lead the Arena Football League-leading New Orleans VooDoo to a 48-31 victory over the Carolina Cobras in front of 16,245 in New Orleans.... Connell Maynor threw five touchdowns to help the Orlando Predators beat the Las Vegas Gladiators, 60-43, in front of 13,149 in Orlando, Fla..... The Tampa Bay Storm beat the Georgia Force, 53-24,in front of 10,322 in Duluth, Ga..... The Colorado Crush beat the Arizona Rattlers, 54-46, in front of 14,514 in Denver.

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UCLA sophomore Chelsea Johnson won the women’s pole vault at the Stanford Invitational with a mark of 15 feet, breaking her NCAA outdoor record of 14-9.