June 18, 2006	Sunday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 21, 1427

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LONDON, June 17: Rafael Nadal's Wimbledon preparations suffered a blow on Friday when he had to retire from his Stella Artois quarter-final 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.

“I felt a lot of pain here,” Nadal told reporters afterwards, indicating the point of his left shoulder. “It would have been stupid to continue.”

Nadal's defeat ended his run of 26 consecutive wins since his defeat by Carlos Moya at the Miami Masters in March.

US defending champion Andy Roddick was a confident 6-4, 6-3 winner over Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, setting up an all-American semi-final against James Blake.

Like Nadal, French teenager Gael Monfils quit his quarter-final 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 semi-finals after the Briton broke his jinx against Dmitry Tursunov by beating the Russian 6-3, 7-6.

Australian Hewitt, three time 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.

In the second set, four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Henman was a set point down but Tursunov double-faulted and the Briton rattled through the tiebreak 7-1, sealing victory with a big forehand.

Friday’s results:

Quarter-finals: 3-Andy Roddick (US) beat 6-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) 6-4, 6-3; 8-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat 1-Rafael Nadal (Spain) 3-6, 6-3 – Nadal retired; Tim Henman (Britain) beat 15-Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) 5-James Blake (US) beat 13-Gael Monfils (France) 6-1 -- Monfils retired.

HALLE INTERNATIONAL RESULTS:

Quarter-finals: 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat 7-Olivier Rochus (Belgium) 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (11-9), 7-6 (7-5); 6-Tommy Haas (Germany) beat Robin Soderling (Sweden) 7-5, 6-4; 5-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Fabrice Santoro (France) 7-5, 7-6 (7-3); 8-Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) beat Florian Mayer (Germany) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4.

SHARAPOVA NEARS TITLE

BIRMINGHAM: Champion and top seed Maria Sharapova charged into the semi-finals of the Birmingham Classic with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Italian Mara Santangelo.

Meilen Tu continued her impressive run at the tournament when she beat 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.

Results:

Quarter-finals: Meilen Tu (US) beat 6-Marion Bartoli (France) 6-4, 6-4; Vera Zvonareva (Russia) beat 2-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1; 1-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Mara Santangelo (Italy) 6-2, 6-2; Jamea Jackson (US) beat 4-Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) 6-4, 6-3.—Agencies