Nadal wins on grass at Queen's Club

June 16, 2008

Rafael Nadal claimed his first career grass-court title yesterday, defeating Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (5), 7-5, in the ATP Queen's Club final in London to become the first Spaniard to win on grass in 36 years.

It was the French Open champion's third win in the past three tournaments over the second-seeded Djokovic, after semifinal victories in Hamburg and at Roland Garros. Andres Gimeno was the last Spaniard to win on grass, at Eastbourne in 1972.

Nadal, who was the top seed, is also the first to win at Roland Garros and Queen's Club in the same year since Ilie Nastase in 1973.

The win should give Nadal a confidence boost ahead of Wimbledon.

"Wimbledon is [a] very, very important tournament, and the motivation is 100 percent," Nadal said. "Doesn't matter if I am tired mentally. Physically is a little bit more important, but I think physically I'm fine."

• ATP Gerry Weber Open // Roger Federer beat Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3, 6-4, in the final for his 10th grass title to match Pete Sampras' total on the surface and move his unbeaten streak on grass to 59 matches. The top-ranked Swiss sailed through the Wimbledon warm-up tournament without dropping a set or his serve. "I'm really excited; I think that's the first time in my career I won a title" without losing serve, said Federer, who has won the past five Wimbledon titles. "That was very special - and I'm very proud to keep my streak going." In fact, Federer also won a tournament in Doha in 2005 without being broken.

• ATP Warsaw Open // Top seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia recaptured the title in Warsaw, Poland, when he beat second seed Tommy Robredo, 6-3, 6-3.

• WTA DFS Classic // Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko, 21, claimed her first tour singles title with a 7-6 (7), 2-6, 7-6 (4) victory over Yanina Wickmayer in Birmingham, England.

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Nadal wins on grass at Queen's Club

Related topic galleries: Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Ilie Nastase

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