Spain won its second straight Davis Cup and showed that its tennis talent extends beyond Rafael Nadal.

Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco beat Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, 7-6 (7), 7-5, 6-2, on clay yesterday to give the host Spaniards an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five series at Barcelona. Spain captured its fourth title since 2000 and is the first repeat winner since Sweden 11 years ago.

Stepanek netted a shot on match point to hand Spain the title at the same venue where it took its first title nine years ago. Lopez threw his wrist band to Crown Prince Felipe after the team bench emptied to chants of "campeones" (champions) at Palau Sant Jordi.

"We didn't expect to win it this quickly," captain Albert Costa said. "The key to this team has been its unity."

Nadal, the four-time French Open champion, beat Berdych in Friday's singles. He missed last year's final victory at Argentina on a carpet designed to stop the Spanish mastery of clay.

"First thing, you have to have good players," Nadal said, referring to his team's prowess. "In Spain, we have a lot. Sure, last year was disappointing for me not to be there, but for sure the team was better. They play unbelievable and they won, so they did much better without me than with me."

Spain has played in five finals this decade. It is unbeaten in its last 20 series on clay and has won 18 straight at home, dating to 1999.

Spain is the sixth most successful team in the competition's 108-year history after the United States (32 titles), Australia (28), France and Britain (9) and Sweden (7).

BOXING

KHAN WITH SHORT WIN

Amir Khan retained his WBA light-welterweight title in stunning fashion yesterday, knocking down unbeaten challenger Dmitriy Salita three times before the fight was stopped after only 76 seconds at Newcastle, England.

Khan (22-1, 16 KOs) put Salita (31-1-1) on the canvas after barely 10 seconds at Metro Radio Arena. Khan then hurt him with a left, forcing another count, and followed up with a lightning-quick combination to send the New York-based fighter down when the referee stopped the bout.

HUCK KEEPS TITLE

Marco Huck of Germany retained his WBO cruiserweight title with a narrow unanimous decision over Ola Afolabi of Britain last night at Ludwigsburg, Germany.

Huck (27-1) had the upper hand in most of the 12 rounds, but he was in trouble in the fifth after receiving a couple of blows to the head. Two of the judges scored it 115-113, while the other had it 116-112 for Huck.

Afolabi (14-2-3) lost for the first time since a four-round points decision to Allan Green in March 2003, when both of them were just starting out.

FIGURE SKATING

LYSACEK TOPS GP

World champion Evan Lysacek won the Grand Prix final yesterday in Tokyo, becoming the second straight American to capture the figure skating title.

In the women's event, Kim Yu-na of South Korea claim her third GP title in four years.

Nobunari Oda of Japan, was second to Lysacek, with Johnny Weir of the United States was third.

Japan's Miki Ando and Akiko Suzuki finished second and third.

SKIING

VONN WINS AGAIN

Lindsey Vonn won a World Cup downhill for the second straight day, giving her seven victories on the Lake Louise course in Alberta since 2004.

Yesterday's win marked the first time the 25-year-old Vonn has won two downhills in two days at Lake Louise. The course hosts two downhills each year.