Sports in brief: Nadal downs Roddick at Queen’s Club
French Open champion Rafael Nadal beat four-time champion Andy Roddick 7-5, 6-4 Saturday to reach the final at the Queen’s Club in London for the first time.
Nadal is vying to be the first Spaniard in 36 years to win a grass-court tournament.
Nadal will face Novak Djokovic in the final. The second-seeded Serb dispatched fourth-seeded David Nalbandian 6-1, 6-0.
Roddick was aiming to become the first five-time champion at the Wimbledon warmup but faced constant pressure from Nadal’s forehand.
Djokovic needed just 47 minutes for his most lopsided victory since a semifinal win against Andy Murray in the 2007 Miami Masters, when he also only conceded one game.
•Roger Federer reached the Gerry Weber Open final and pushed his record winning streak on grass to 58 matches with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer at Halle, Germany.
Football
Johnson participates
Receiver Chad Johnson fully participated in drills for the first time as the Cincinnati Bengals wrapped up their minicamp in Cincinnati.
The disgruntled receiver limited himself to a few drills during workouts Thursday and Friday, complaining through his agent that he has a bad ankle. He looked fine on Saturday, catching passes from Carson Palmer.He faced a fine if he didn’t attend the three-day minicamp. Although he attended the first day of workouts, he barely participated.
Miscellany
Stars commit to Everett
U.S. figure skating champions Evan Lysacek, Mirai Nagasu, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto all have been entered in Skate America, which kicks off the Grand Prix season on Oct. 24 in Everett.
Also in the strong field for the event are former U.S. champions Kimmie Meissner and Johnny Weir, former world champion Miki Ando of Japan, and current pairs world champs Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany. U.S. pairs champions Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker also are entered.
•Jake Deitchler, an 18-year-old from Minnesota unfazed by any deficit or opponent, pulled off two major upsets to win the U.S. 145 1/2 -pound Greco-Roman trials in Las Vegas, and become the first high schooler on the Olympic wrestling team in 32 years.
•2007 Horse of the Year Curlin won easily in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., in his first North American start this year.
•Harvard won the 143rd Harvard-Yale Regatta in New London, Conn.
The Crimson finished the 4-mile race on the Thames River in 18 minutes, 54.1 seconds, less than 8 seconds ahead of the Bulldogs (19:01.6).
•Mike Day won the U.S. BMX trials in Chula Vista, Calif., a dominant performance that secured a spot on the three-man team that will represent America when BMX makes its Olympic debut in Beijing this summer.