Briefs

Roddick wastes little time in final

By wire services
Published February 14, 2005

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Andy Roddick can forget his frustrating finish in the Australian Open.

He has a new trophy in tow, his evolving backhand slice is improving every day and he finished work early Sunday.

The top-seeded Roddick played a near-flawless first set and breezed to a 6-0, 6-4 victory over unseeded Cyril Saulnier in 50 minutes to win the SAP Open in the fastest final on the ATP circuit this season.

The American is the first to record a shutout set in the championship of this event since Arthur Ashe beat Guillermo Vilas in 1975. Roddick said before the tournament he was determined to bounce back after the Australian Open and his four-set semifinal loss to runnerup Lleyton Hewitt - the only blemish on his 10-1 record this season.

Roddick won his 16th career title less than 20 hours after a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 semifinal win over third-seeded Tommy Haas that featured the best rallies of the tournament. Roddick captured his first ATP title since winning the RCA Championships in Indianapolis in July behind 23 winners and only eight unforced errors.

OTHER TOURNAMENTS: Second-seeded Gaston Gaudio , the 2004 French Open champion, beat wild-card Mariano Puerta 6-4, 6-4 in an all-Argentine final at the ATP Buenos Aires. ... Dinara Safina beat second-seeded Amelie Mauresmo 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to win the Open Gaz de France in Paris. Safina, sister of two-time Grand Slam winner Marat Safin , clinched her third WTA career title. ... Third-seeded Joachim Johansson beat Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 6-4 to win the Open 13 in Marseille, France.

Gold medalist arrested

Downhill ski champion Bill Johnson was charged with assaulting an officer and resisting arrest after punching a sheriff's deputy in the face during a traffic stop, Portland, Ore., police said. Johnson, 44, was stopped in his pickup truck Friday. When officers approached, Johnson pulled out his 1984 gold medal and taunted them by saying, "You don't have one of these," police said. Authorities said Johnson threw his keys at a deputy, grabbed the deputy's shirt and punched him.

BAN DECREASED: The International Ski Federation reduced the lifetime ban it handed Austrian cross-country ski coach Walter Mayer to 10 years after a doping scandal at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. It had banned Mayer for life after the discovery of blood-doping paraphernalia in a house occupied by Austrian skiers in Salt Lake City.

Baffert boasts a winner

Bob Baffert -trained Fusaichi Rock Star replaced stablemate Roman Ruler and scored a front-running victory in the $150,000 Grade II San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita. Baffert scratched the sore-footed Roman Ruler, more highly regarded than Fusaichi Rock Star and the probable favorite in the early test for 3-year-olds. Fusaichi Rock Star, winning for the second time in five career starts, held off fast-closing Don't Get Mad by a length in the 7-furlong race. Fusaichi Rock Star, a Florida-bred son of Wild Wonder , won in 1:22.59 and paid $17 and $5.20.

HARNESS RACING: Once-beaten filly Rainbow Blue edged trotting Triple Crown winner Windsong's Legacy for the Dan Patch award as the 2004 horse of the year. Rainbow Blue is a 3-year-old filly who won 20 of 21 races last year. She is the only harness-racing filly to post two sub-1:50 miles, winning twice with a world-record-equaling time of 1:49.2. Windsong's Legacy won nine of 12 starts and earned a single-season trotting record $1.7-million.

CROSS COUNTRY: Shalane Flanagan (13:24) defended her women's short-course title, winning the 4-kilometer run in the U.S. Championships in Vancouver, Wash. Dathan Ritzenhein (36:59) won the men's 12K and prep star Galen Rupp (25:13) won the junior 4K title. The top six in the open and junior races qualified for the U.S. team that competes in the world championships March19-20 in France.

POLE VAULT: Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia set a world record in indoor competition. She cleared 15 feet, 113/4 inches at the "Pole Vault Stars" event Saturday in Kiev, Ukraine, breaking the mark of 15-111/4 she set last year in Budapest.

SOCCER: Landon Donovan made his first start in Germany's Bundesliga, showing off some clever passing as he helped Bayer Leverkusen stay in the title race of the European Champions League with a 2-0 victory over Mainz 05. Donovan signed with Bayer Leverkusen in February 1999 when he was 16 but never got into a game and joined San Jose before the 2001 MLS season. He returned to the German team in January.

[Last modified February 14, 2005, 01:20:17]