Rafael Nadal claimed the first grass court title of his career on Sunday when he defeated Novak Djokovic 7-6 (5), 7-5 in the final at Queen's Club.
It was the French Open champion’s third win in the last three tournaments over the second-seeded Djokovic, following semi-final victories in Hamburg and at Roland Garros. Nadal is the first Spaniard to earn a grass court title since Andres Gimeno won 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 claimed both titles in 1973.
PHOTO: AP
“This week was amazing for me,” Nadal said.
The win should also 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 has won the last five Wimbledon crowns, beating Nadal in the last two finals, but also lost to Djokovic in this year’s Australian Open semi-finals. The Swiss won his fifth title at Halle, Germany, earlier on Sunday to extend his winning streak on grass to 59 matches.
Both players produced some stunning tennis after Djokovic had threatened to sweep top-seeded Nadal aside in the same manner as his 6-1, 6-0 demolition of David Nalbandian in the semi-finals.
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 his opponent immediately broke back, before Nadal received treatment for blisters on his racket hand.
Both players earned opportunities late in the set.
Nadal dropped his own 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 said he was still happy with his performance — especially since he only started playing on grass three years ago.
“Well, I tried. It was a great match,” he said. “It was a great atmosphere. It’s been a terrific week.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but