Sports briefs 8/8/05

College

• Texas defensive end Mike Williams will miss his second straight season with the Longhorns because of academic ineligibility.

Running back Henry Melton and offensive lineman Kyle Thornton are also ineligible to participate in the team's first practice Monday, but both said they plan on reporting once their academic issues are resolved.

Williams, a junior, had six sacks in 2003. He said he will still attend classes at Texas this fall.

Melton is a freshman from Grapevine. Thorton is a redshirt sophomore who was expected to backup Will Allen at right guard.

Horse racing

* Bob Baffert has done it again in the $1 million Haskell Invitational, this time with Roman Ruler.

The trainer won the Haskell for the third time in five years Sunday, when Roman Ruler took the lead from Sun King in the stretch and ran off to a 1 1/4-length victory in the showcase event at Monmouth Park.

Roman Ruler, once a Kentucky Derby favorite but knocked off the Triple Crown trail by nagging foot problems, appears to be back in top form.

The son of 2000 Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus came off a 3 1/2-month layoff and won the Dwyer at Belmont on July 4. With Jerry Bailey aboard again Roman Ruler proved he could win going around two turns.

The Haskell lost much of its luster last week when Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Afleet Alex fractured his left front ankle and was declared out until the fall.

Tennis

* Top-seeded Andy Roddick defeated James Blake 7-5, 6-3 to win the Legg Mason Tennis Classic championship on Sunday.

Roddick, who also won in Washington in 2001, took advantage of costly errors by Blake in the clinching game of the first set, then rode the momentum to his fourth title of the year.

Blake, the 2002 champion, won three straight games to tie the first set at 4-4. Roddick took a 6-5 lead with his powerful service game, then clinched the set when the unseeded American first hit a volley wide right, and then was long on an overhand.

In the second set, Roddick broke serve to take a 5-3 advantage, then recorded three of his 18 aces -- one clocked at 144 mph -- to take the title.

* Mary Pierce routed Ai Sugiyama 6-0, 6-3 Sunday in the finals of the Acura Classic for her first tournament title in more than a year.

The sixth-seeded Pierce was dominant, winning 11 of the first 12 games and breaking Sugiyama's serve six straight times. By the time Sugiyama held serve -- the seventh game of the second set -- Pierce already had a 5-2 lead.

Pierce, who has 17 career titles, won for the first time since June 2004, in the Netherlands.