Nadal beats Djokovic for his 1st grass-court title

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

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

Nadal is also the first player to win at Roland Garros and Queen's Club in the same year since Ilie Nastase in 1973.

"This week was amazing for me," Nadal said.

The win should give Nadal a confidence boost ahead of Wimbledon, particularly after his resounding straight-sets win over No. 1 Roger Federer in the French Open final.

"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."

Federer, who has won the last five Wimbledon crowns, lost to Djokovic in this year's Australian Open semifinals. The Swiss earned his fifth title at Halle, Germany, earlier Sunday to extend his streak on grass to 59 wins.

Early on, Djokovic threatened to sweep the top-seeded Nadal aside in the same manner as his 6-1, 6-0 demolition of David Nalbandian in the semifinals.

Djokovic survived a break point in the opening game and then took a 2-0 lead on his fourth break point when he forced a forehand error from Nadal. The Serb earned a break point for a 4-0 lead, but Nadal struck a cross-court forehand winner and went on to break Djokovic in the fifth game.

Djokovic had another opportunity in the tiebreaker, leading 6-5 when a forehand from Nadal clipped the net cord and landed wide. Nadal leveled at 6-6 with a forehand winner, and two points later Djokovic netted a return to concede the set.

Nadal took advantage of Djokovic's frustration by breaking to lead 2-0 in the second set, but Djokovic immediately broke back before Nadal received treatment for blisters on his racket hand.

Both players had opportunities late in the set.

Nadal dropped his serve at love to leave Djokovic serving for the set, but the Spaniard won the final three games of the match, closing out with an easy volley at the net.

Djokovic was pleased with his performance — especially since he has been playing on grass only three years.

"Well, I tried. It was a great match," he said. "It was a great atmosphere. It's been a terrific week."

Federer reaches 16th straight major quarterfinal

Despite tricky traction on a drizzly afternoon, Roger Federer avoided any serious missteps in the fourth round of the French Open. The top-ranked Federer reached the quarterfinals for the 16th Grand Slam event in a row by beating Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 Monday.

Federer was broken serving for each of the first two sets but recovered to close them out. Steady rain prompted a 90-minute interruption before the third set.

"It was unfortunate I couldn't serve it out the way I wanted to in the first and second set, but I felt OK out there," Federer said. "It was tough conditions with the rain delay."

His next opponent will be No. 24-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, who ended Robby Ginepri's surprising run at Roland Garros, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-1. Ginepri was the last American in either singles draw.

Federer beat Gonzalez in the 2007 Australian Open final for one of his 12 Grand Slam titles, two shy of Pete Sampras' record. The French Open is the only major Federer has yet to win.

"I hope it's going to go my way this time," Federer said. "All in all, I'm very happy with the way I'm playing."

Gonzalez is 16-0 this year on clay, although he withdrew before the third round in Rome because of a hamstring injury.

"Obviously I'm the favorite in this section, so I hope I can make it through to the final," Federer said. "But I'm not there yet, so I have to be very careful with Gonzalez. ... He was born on clay, more or less."