Ex-Dolphin Thomas will visit Patriots

Free-agent linebacker Zach Thomas, who was released by the Dolphins last Thursday, is scheduled to visit with Patriots officials at Gillette Stadium today. The 34-year-old Thomas has played his entire 12-year career with Miami. A seven-time Pro Bowler, he was limited to just five games last season by concussions and migraines. The Dolphins are undergoing a rebuilding project under executive vice president of football operations Bill Parcells, general manager Jeff Ireland, and coach Tony Sparano, and with Thomas scheduled to make $5.65 million in 2008, that factored into the team's decision to release him. The 5-foot-11-inch, 228-pound Thomas would project as an inside linebacker in the Patriots' 3-4 alignment . . . Bills receiver Roscoe Parrish was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence in Miami Beach. Parrish, 25, was stopped at 4:30 a.m. Saturday, police said, and taken into custody. He was released later Saturday on $1,000 bond.

Qualifier Kei Nishikori became the first Japanese man to win an ATP title in 16 years by upsetting top-seeded James Blake, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, in the International Tennis Championships final at Delray Beach, Fla., yesterday. With the win, the 244th-ranked Nishikori is expected to move to a No. 122 ranking. He is the youngest player to win an ATP title since Lleyton Hewitt won Adelaide as a 16-year-old in 1998. Blake took control of the first set when he broke serve in the eighth game. From there, the match belonged to the teen, who took a 5-0 lead in the second set before Blake managed to get on the scoreboard. In the third set, Nishikori saved three break points on his own serve in the second game. Blake then squandered two game points to have his serve broken at ad-out when Nishikori sent a backhand floater down the line . . . Fourth-seeded Andy Murray beat Mario Ancic, 6-3, 6-4, to win the Open 13 in Marseille, France, for his fifth career title . . . Second-seeded Nicolas Almagro fought off a comeback attempt by fellow Spaniard Carlos Moya to win the Brazil Open, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 7-5, in Costa do Sauipe . . . Justine Henin won her second tournament of the year, beating Karin Knapp, 6-3, 6-3 at the Diamond Games at Antwerp, Belgium.

Five-time Olympic medal winner Natalie Coughlin set a world record in the 100-meter backstroke during a preliminary race at the Missouri Grand Prix in Columbia. Coughlin finished the race in 59.21 seconds, lowering her previous world record in the event by .23 seconds. Earlier, Katie Hoff set her second American record in as many days when she and six-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps each cruised to a pair of victories. Both easily won their respective 200-meter freestyle and 400 individual medley races on the second day of the meet. Hoff set an American record in the 200, finishing in 1 minute 56.08 seconds to defeat Coughlin for the second time in two days. Coughlin set the previous mark.

Two-time slalom world champion Mario Matt won the inaugural men's World Cup slalom in Zagreb, putting a damper on the homecoming of Ivica Kostelic, who learned to ski on the Sljeme hill outside the Croatian capital. Kostelic was only 0.03 seconds behind Matt after the first run, then took the lead after his second run even though he made a few mistakes on the long, icy course. Matt responded to the challenge, navigating the 69 gates without a major error to finish with an aggregate time of 1 minute 51.36 seconds. It was the Austrian's third win of the season and 11th of his career. New Hampshire's Bode Miller, the overall World Cup leader, lost his balance at the bottom of the course and nearly crashed out in the first run. Although Miller managed to stay on his skis, he finished outside the top 30 and did not qualify for the second run, meaning he failed to pick up any points . . . Norway's cross-country skiers dominated World Cup team sprint events, winning the men's and women's races at Liberec, Czech Republic. Martin Johnsrud-Sundby and Simen Ostensen completed the 6x1.4-kilometer classical style race in 21 minutes 50.4 seconds. Marit Bjorgen and Astrid Jacobsen took the women's 4x1.4K classical race, finishing in 16:13.6 . . . American Shani Davis broke the track record in winning his second 1,000-meter race in two days in World Cup speedskating at Inzell, Germany. The Olympic champion finished in 1 minute 9.65 seconds - .39 seconds off his world record . . . Armin Zoggeler of Italy clinched his seventh overall luge singles title by finishing second in the season-ending World Cup meet at Sigulda, Latvia. Albert Demtschenko of Russia won the finale in 1 minute 39.786 seconds. Zoggeler finished in 1:39.853.

Conference USA officials said they were investigating what happened after top-ranked Memphis's 79-78 victory over host Alabama-Birmingham, where the Tigers were showered with debris after avoiding an upset Saturday night. Cups, water bottles, and pompoms were thrown by fans in the UAB student section as the Tigers were being escorted off the court toward their dressing room Saturday night. "We are currently in the process of gathering all the information about the actions occurring at the conclusion of Saturday night's Memphis-UAB game," the league said in a statement . . . The Rangers re-signed defenseman Fedor Tyutin to a four-year deal worth nearly $11.4 million . . . Matt Hendricks scored at 3:48 of overtime to give the host Providence Bruins a 4-3 victory over the Lowell Devils . . . Ronda Rousey of Wakefield earned a gold medal in judo in the 70-kilogram division of the Budapest World Cup in Hungary.