From Beacon Journal wire services

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

It was the French Open champion's third win in the past 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 opens June 23.

More tennis: Federer wins on grass

• Federer just wanted to survive a couple of rounds at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, after his painful French Open loss to Nadal. The top-ranked Swiss did much more, beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4 in the final for his 10th grass title. That matches 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 warm-up tournament without dropping a set or his serve. ''I'm really excited; I think that's the first time in my career I won a title'' without losing serve, Federer said. ''That was very special — and I'm very proud to keep my streak going.'' In fact, Federer also won a tournament in Doha in 2005 without being broken.

• Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko recaptured the Warsaw Open title when he beat second-seeded Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-3 in the final in Warsaw, Poland. 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.

• 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. The title was Kirilenko's second of the year, following a win at Estoril, Portugal, in April.

• 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. Bondarenko, a 21-year-old Ukrainian who took the Australian Open doubles championship with her sister Alona, won a long battle of ground strokes in the Wimbledon warm-up.

Other: Valverde wins Dauphine

• Alejandro Valverde won the Dauphine Libere in La Toussuire France, putting the Spanish cyclist among the favorites for next month's Tour de France. Kazakh rider Dmitriy Fofonov won the seventh and final stage — a 79.5-mile ride from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Grenoble that featured three big climbs and a downhill finish. Valverde, who also won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege two months ago, edged Cadel Evans of Australia in second and Levi Leipheimer of the United States in third in the overall standings. Valverde won two stages in the Dauphine — a dazzling sprint finish in the first stage and Wednesday's time trial — and held on through climbs in the Alps in the last four stages.

• David Dixon shot a 5-under 66 to win the Saint-Omer Open in Saint-Omer, France, and earn his first victory on the PGA European Tour. The Englishman, who was 9 shots off the lead in the opening round, finished at 5-under 279 to beat Christian Nilsson of Sweden by 1 stroke.

• Brian Ching scored three goals, two in the final four minutes, after Clint Dempsey scored 54 seconds into the match to set the tone in the United States' 8-0 rout of Barbados in the Americans' first qualifying game for the 2010 World Cup in Carson, Calif.

• 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. WVU coach Bob Huggins says he supports Alexander's decision.

• Former Marshall defensive end Johnathan Goddard died early Sunday after a motorcycle accident in northern Florida. 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., Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Leeper said Sunday. Goddard, a resident of Starke, was pronounced dead about 6:30 a.m. Sunday at Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said. Goddard was the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year and an Associated Press second team all-American in 2004, when he led the nation with 16 sacks and 28 tackles for loss.