Pique says Nadal to play Davis Cup

Barcelona soccer player Gerard Pique said Rafael Nadal will play in the revamped Davis Cup next year thanks to a partnership between the International Tennis Federation and investment group Kosmos, which was founded by Pique.

“If the No. 1 in the world is playing, that’s more than enough,” Pique said in the official presentation of Madrid as host of the Davis Cup finals for the next two years. “Rafa is very positive about this event, especially because it is taking place in Madrid.”

The new format of tennis’ top team event will be a season-ending, 18-team tournament, but teams will still play matches in February to advance to the championship in November. The Davis Cup has previously been played over four weekends throughout the year.

Karolina Pliskova and Elina Svitolina secured the last two places at the season-ending WTA Finals despite neither winning a match at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

Pliskova lost to Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 6-2, giving the idle Svitolina a spot in the tournament in Singapore. Kiki Bertens then lost to Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 a short time later, handing Pliskova the final spot. MLS: Wayne Rooney scored a long-range goal and Bill Hamid had four saves to help D.C. United beat visiting Toronto FC 1-0 . ... Victor Rodriguez had a goal and an assist to help the Seattle Sounders beat host Orlando City 2-1 and clinch their 10th consecutive playoff berth . ... Daniel Salloi scored twice and Sporting Kansas City beat the host Vancouver Whitecaps 4-1. Yohan Croizet and Gianluca Busio also scored to help Kansas City (168-8) move into third place in the Western Conference.