In brief: Nadal defeats Djokovic for first grass court title

Rafael Nadal claimed his first career grass-court title in London 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.

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.

“Roger Federer beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany for his 10th grass title.

The top-ranked Swiss matched Pete Sampras’ Open era record of 10 grass-court titles and takes his unbeaten streak on grass to 59 matches.

To further boost his confidence, Federer sailed through the Wimbledon warmup tournament without dropping a set or his serve.

“Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko recaptured the Warsaw Open title in Warsaw, Poland when he beat second-seeded Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-3 in the final. Davydenko won the clay-court tournament in 2006, and Robredo won it last year.

“Kateryna Bondarenko claimed her first WTA Tour singles title with a 7-6 (7), 2-6, 7-6 (4) victory over Yanina Wickmayer in the final of the DFS Classic in Birmingham, England.

“Second-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia won the Torneo Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Spanish wild card Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

Kirilenko is now ranked 19th.

Auto Racing

Audi wins Le Mans

Audi survived a collision late in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France to win the endurance race for the fifth straight year and give Tom Kristensen a record eighth victory.

Kristensen, a Dane, teamed with Rinaldo Capello of Italy and Allan McNish of Britain in the Audi No. 2 that made the best of wet racing to beat the faster Peugeot cars.

Audi’s victory thwarted Jacques Villeneuve’s bid to win the Triple Crown of auto racing.

Villeneuve won the Indianapolis 500 in 1995 and the Formula One world championship in 1997, but could only hold the lead for a few laps this weekend to finish second.

Soccer

US women win opener

The U.S. women’s team beat Australia 2-1 in its opening match of the 2008 Peace Queen Cup in Suwon, South Korea on goals by Natasha Kai in the first half and Abby Wambach 13 minutes from the end of the game.

The goal was Kai’s team-leading 11th of 2008 and 19th of her young international career.

As she often does, though, Wambach came through with a clutch goal, her 96th international score.

Miscellany

VanDam gets 14th win

Kevin VanDam won the Bassmaster Elite Series’ Bluegrass Brawl at Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Ky. for his 14th BASS victory, hauling in 16 pounds, 9 ounces.

The victory is VanDam’s fourth in Elite Series competition this season — the most of any angler since the format was created in 2006.

“West Virginia forward Joe Alexander will remain in the upcoming NBA draft.

Alexander entered his name in the draft on April 9, but initially said he would not sign with an agent. The university announced Sunday night that Alexander won’t return for his senior season.

Alexander led the Mountaineers in scoring at 16.9 points per game and in rebounding at 6.4. He was selected to the all-Big East first team.