Nadal, Federer win Wimbledon tuneups

Rafael Nadal claimed his first career grass-court title, defeating Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 yesterday 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 . . . Top-ranked Roger Federer beat Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3, 6-4, in the final of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, to match Pete Sampras's Open era record of 10 grass-court titles and extend his unbeaten streak on grass to 59 matches. Federer sailed through the Wimbledon warmup tournament without dropping a set or his serve. Federer, who raised his record to 10-0 in grass finals, won in Halle for the fifth time. The previous four were followed by Wimbledon triumphs three weeks later. "That's exactly what I hope for this time," Federer said. "That's why I'm so satisfied. That's why I will go to Wimbledon with a lot of hope." . . . Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko recaptured the Warsaw Open title when he beat second-seeded Tommy Robredo, 6-3, 6-3. Davydenko won the clay-court tournament in 2006, and Robredo won it last year. The Russian broke Robredo three times in the first set, while giving up his serve once. He needed just one break in the second, saving five break points en route to his third ATP title of the year and 14th of his career . . . Kateryna Bondarenko claimed her first WTA Tour singles title with a 7-6 (9-7), 2-6, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Yanina Wickmayer in the final of the DFS Classic in Birmingham, England. Bondarenko, a 21-year-old Ukrainian who won the Australian Open doubles championship with her sister Alona, won a long battle of groundstrokes in the Wimbledon warmup . . . Top-seeded David Ferrer beat Dutch wild-card Jesse Huta Galung, 6-2, 6-3, to advance to the second round of the Ordina Open in Den Bosch, Netherlands.

Danny Muno, Alan Ahmady, and Jordan Ribera hit three-run homers and Fresno State's amazing postseason run continued with a stunning 17-5 victory over Rice in Omaha. The Bulldogs, the first No. 4 regional seed to make it to Omaha, broke it open against the Owls with a seven-run fourth inning. Fresno (43-29) will play tomorrow night against North Carolina, which beat LSU, 8-4. Rice (47-14) meets the Tigers (48-18-1) that afternoon in an elimination game. Alex White kept LSU's potent offense mostly under wraps for seven-plus innings and Kyle Seager, Seth Williams, and Ryan Graepel had three hits apiece to lead the Tar Heels (52-12).

Brewers reliever Eric Gagné threw about 25 pitches off the mound as he continues to recover from right rotator cuff tendinitis. The 2003 NL Cy Young winner went on the disabled list May 23, retroactive to two days before when he felt tightness in his shoulder . . . Texas Rangers infielder Hank Blalock will start a rehabilitation assignment at Triple A Oklahoma today as he returns from carpal tunnel syndrome surgery on his right wrist.

Joey Logano, who in only his third Nationwide Series start won Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway, likely will compete in a few Sprint Cup races for Joe Gibbs Racing before the end of the season. "We would like to get him in some Cup stuff toward the end of the year," team owner Joe Gibbs said. "We want to make sure it's the good stuff and the right way." Logano, 18, has a win, two top-10 finishes, and two poles in three Nationwide races.

The Florida Highway Patrol says former Marshall football star Johnathan Goddard died in a motorcycle accident in northern Florida. He was 27. Highway Patrol Lieutenant Bill Leeper said Goddard's motorcycle went off the shoulder of a road at a high rate of speed and overturned about 7:40 p.m. Saturday in Clay County, Fla. Goddard was the Mid-American Conference defensive player of the year in 2004, when he led the nation with 16 sacks and 28 tackles for loss. Goddard was selected by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL draft and later played briefly for the Indianapolis Colts . . . Ann Wauters had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and the San Antonio Silver Stars beat the Fever, 70-60, in Indianapolis to spoil Tamika Catchings's WNBA season debut. Catchings, who tore her right Achilles' tendon in last year's Eastern Conference finals and underwent surgery in September, made her season debut for the Fever. She played 12 minutes and finished with 2 points and one rebound . . . West Virginia forward Joe Alexander will make himself available in the upcoming NBA draft. Alexander entered his name in the draft April 9, but initially said he would not sign with an agent. The university announced that Alexander won't return for his senior season . . . BYU junior guard Lee Cummard, the Mountain West Conference co-player of the year, will withdraw from the NBA draft and return for his senior season, coach Dave Rose told ESPN.com . . . A former two-time NCAA wrestler of the year at Missouri, Ben Askren made a quick transition from college champion to Olympian when he won the US 163-pound freestyle trials in Las Vegas by beating national runner-up Tyrone Lewis in consecutive matches . . . Alejandro Valverde won the Dauphine Libere in La Toussuire, France, putting the Spanish cyclist among the favorites for next month's Tour de France. Valverde finished with a total time of 27 hours 39 minutes, edging Cadel Evans of Australia by 39 seconds. Levi Leipheimer of Butte, Mont. - the 2006 Dauphine winner - was third, 1:24 back.