Rafael Nadal lost in the semifinals of the China Open yesterday in Beijing, falling 6-1, 6-3 to Marin Cilic.

The eighth-seeded Croat cruised past the Spaniard, setting up a final against Serbia's Novak Djokovic, who beat Sweden's Robin Soderling, 6-3, 6-3.

In the women's draw, Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Russian compatriot Nadia Petrova, 6-1, 6-3, to move into the final against 12th seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who beat France's Marion Bartoli, 6-4, 6-3.

Cilic broke Nadal's serve twice in the first set, racing to a 5-0 lead as the world's second-ranked player struggled against the 21-year-old's booming serve and aggressive returns. Cilic racked up six aces in the first set, with a first-serve percentage of 83.

He continued to baffle Nadal in the second set, breaking serve in the first game and again in the sixth, wrecking Nadal's timing and outpacing him with his groundstrokes.

"From the beginning of the match until the end I didn't let my level of play drop and definitely I came into the match really good," Cilic said. "I was aggressive when I had to be."

JAPAN OPEN FINAL SET

Second-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France coasted into the final of the Japan Open in Tokyo yesterday with a 6-3, 6-3 win over compatriot Gael Monfils.

Tsonga will face Russia's Mikhail Youzhny in the final at Ariake Colosseum. The unseeded Youzhny had 10 aces on his way to a 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 over Lleyton Hewitt in the other semifinal.

CUP FINAL IN SPAIN

The Davis Cup final between defending champion Spain and the Czech Republic will be played in Barcelona, Spain.

The Spanish tennis federation announced yesterday that the best-of-five series scheduled for Dec. 4 to 6 will be held on the clay courts at Barcelona's Palau Sant Jordi.

TRACK AND FIELD

GENDER TO BE DEFINED

World track and field's governing body will start determining the definition of a woman in an athletics context next week as it prepares to reveal the results of South African runner Caster Semenya's gender tests.

IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss added yesterday that the organization's medical commission could take a year to deliver that definition.

Weiss told The Associated Press: "We are obliged to react. It would have been better if we had been prepared to, but we were not prepared."

Semenya won the 800 meters at the Berlin world championships in August. Before the final, the IAAF announced it had ordered gender tests and those results are being scrutinized by experts across the world, Weiss said.

BOXING

SALGADO CLAIMS TITLE

Juan Carlos Salgado of Mexico knocked out Jorge Linares of Venezuela in the first round yesterday in Tokyo to capture the WBC super featherweight title.

Salgado sent Linares to the canvas with a left to the head just 1 minute, 13 seconds into the bout.

Salgado, who was making his first attempt at a major title, improved to 22-0-1 (16 KOs) while Linares suffered his first professional loss to slip to 27-1 (18 KOs).