Sports briefs 6/17/06

Baseball

• It was a rough start and solid finish for The Rocket.

Pitching for the Class AAA Round Rock Express in the final tuneup before his return to the Astros, Roger Clemens gave up three runs on three hits in the first inning before settling into a big-league groove Friday night against the New Orleans Zephyrs.

He finished the night with 5 2/3 innings of work with five strikeouts, five hits and three walks.

Tennis

• Roger Federer saved four match points and overcame 57 unforced errors to beat Olivier Rochus 6-7 (2), 7-6 (9), 7-6 (5) Friday at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, for his 39th straight win on grass.

The top-ranked Swiss will play Tommy Haas of Germany, who defeated Robin Soderling of Sweden 7-5, 6-4, in the semifinals.

Federer can equal Bjorn Borg's record of 41 straight wins on grass if he wins the title Sunday. Federer's last loss on grass came to Mario Ancic in the first round at Wimbledon in 2002.

* French Open champion Rafael Nadal lost for the first time in nearly three months Friday when he retired in the quarterfinals of the Queen's Club in London with a sore left shoulder.

The top-seeded Spaniard won the first set 6-3 against Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who won the second by the same score. Nadal needed treatment on his serving shoulder during changeovers, and retired after the second set.

-- The Associated Press