MADRID — Roger Federer got a badly needed confidence boost ahead of the French Open, beating top-ranked Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to win his first title of the season at the Madrid Open.

The second-ranked Federer broke a sluggish Nadal once in both sets before firing his sixth ace to win his 15th Masters Series title on the second match point. Federer also won here in 2006 when the event was played indoors on a hard court.

It was only the second victory Federer has on clay against his top rival, with the other at the Hamburg final two years ago. The win also ended Federer's five-match losing streak to Nadal, which included losses in the finals at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Australia.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michael Phelps was beaten twice at the Charlotte UltraSwim, losing to French star Frederick Bousquet in the 100-meter freestyle Sunday night.Phelps touched nearly a full second behind Bousquet, world-record holder in the 50 free, after losing his first final in nearly a year the previous night. Aaron Peirsol beat Phelps in the 100 backstroke.

NEWTON, Iowa — Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Camping World Series East-West combination race Sunday at Iowa Speedway, easily holding off 2008 winner Brian Ickler.Coming off the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on Saturday night in North Carolina, Busch took the pole and led 168 of the 200 laps in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. With the victory, he earned a spot in the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown.

CONCORD, N.C. — Some 600 miles away from Lowe's Motor Speedway, nervous drivers fretted over the final qualifying day for the Indianapolis 500.Sam Hornish Jr. was thrilled to be as far away as possible.It didn't hurt, of course, that he was busy celebrating his first NASCAR victory.After almost three years of agonizing struggles, Hornish finally found success in stock cars by winning a qualifying race that earned him a spot in the All-Star race. The non-points victory was his first of any kind since he left the IndyCar Series for a full-time move to NASCAR in late 2007.Cranberry Townshi[p native Travis Geisler, son of longtime Late Model driver Lynn Geisler, is Hornish's pit crew chief.

SAN ANTONIO — Zach Johnson left town with another Texas Open win, a PGA Tour record and the top spot in the FedEx Cup standings.No wonder he's going to miss it here.Winning at La Cantera Golf Club for the second time in seven months, Johnson needed just one hole to beat James Driscoll in a sudden-death playoff Sunday and successfully defend his title for his sixth career tour victory.Johnson beat Driscoll, who rallied from eight strokes back in a final-round shootout to force the playoff, with a 10-foot birdie on the par-4 18th. The two finished regulation at 15-under 265.