LONDON, 17 June 2006 — Rafael Nadal’s Wimbledon preparations suffered a blow yesterday when he had to retire from his Stella Artois quarterfinal against Australian Lleyton Hewitt with a shoulder injury.
The double French Open champion had taken the first set impressively 6-3 but needed treatment to his left shoulder in the second which he lost 6-3.
Nadal, the tournament’s top seed, decided to quit before the start of the third set and will now face a race to be fit for the grasscourt grand slam which begins on June 26.
The 20-year-old Mallorcan, who beat Roger Federer to win his second French Open in a row on Sunday, said he planned to fly home later to consult his doctor.
US defending champion Andy Roddick was a confident 6-4, 6-3 winner over Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, setting up an all-American semifinal against James Blake.
Roddick has won the event for the last three years and the twice Wimbledon runner-up really hit his stride against Gonzalez.
Like Nadal, French teenager Gael Monfils quit his quarterfinal against Blake due to injury.
The 19-year-old had lost the first set 6-1 to Blake when he retired with a back injury. He later pulled out of next week’s Nottingham grasscourt event.
Hewitt, the 2002 Wimbledon champion, faces Briton Tim Henman in the semifinals after the Briton broke his jinx against Dmitry Tursunov by beating the Russian 6-3, 7-6.
Australian Hewitt, three times a former champion at Queen’s Club, beat Henman in the 2001 and 2002 finals.
Henman was knocked out of Wimbledon by Tursunov last year and also lost to him at this year’s Australian Open and French Open.
Struggling Federer Closes In on Borg’s Record
In Halle, Germany, Roger Federer saved four match points before overcoming Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (11 9), 7-6 (7-5) in the Halle quarterfinals yesterday to move two matches away from equaling Bjorn Borg’s all-time winning grasscourt record.
But the Swiss world No. 1, now unbeaten on his favorite surface for almost four years, looked far from convincing as he notched up his 39th consecutive grass court win, two off Borg’s Open Era record of 41 set between 1976 and 1981.
Federer will now play sixth seeded German Tommy Haas, who beat Sweden’s Robin Soderling 7-5, 6-4, for a place in the final.
Fifth-seed Tomas Berdych beat France’s Fabrice Santoro 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) for a place in the semifinals and now faces either Kristof Vliegen or Florian Mayer.
Impressive Sharapova a Step Closer to Third Title
In London, champion and top seed Maria Sharapova charged into the semifinals of the Birmingham Classic with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Italian Mara Santangelo.
Sharapova, chasing a hat-trick of titles in the Wimbledon warm-up event, will now meet fellow Russian Elena Likhovtseva or American Jamea Jackson.
Meilen Tu continued her impressive run at the tournament when she beat sixth-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-4.
The American, who has Taiwanese parents, will next take on unseeded Russian Vera Zvonareva, a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 winner over second seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy.
