Defending Champion Ferrero Loses in Madrid

Defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero made 37 unforced errors and was upset by Luis Horna, 6-3, 6-1, Wednesday in the second round of the Madrid Masters in Spain.

It was the most lopsided loss since April for the 2003 French Open champion, who had a first-round bye because he was seeded sixth. Horna broke Ferrero’s serve in the first game of each set and never looked ruffled.

Several other seeded players bowed out Wednesday, including double Olympic gold medalist Nicolas Massu, who lost to Ferrero in last year’s final, and No. 11-seeded Jiri Novak.

Top-seeded Tim Henman and No. 3 Marat Safin won. Henman defeated Albert Costa, 6-4, 6-2, in his first tour match since the U.S. Open semifinals. Safin had 17 aces and got past Feliciano Lopez, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3.

The fifth-seeded Massu was beaten by Taylor Dent, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and Novak fell to Tommy Haas, 6-1, 6-4.

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Olympic bronze medalist Alicia Molik upset sixth-seeded Vera Zvonareva, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, to reach the Swisscom Challenge quarterfinals at Zurich, Switzerland.

Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and ninth-seeded Ai Sugiyama won in straight sets. No. 4 Sharapova beat Daniela Hantuchova, 6-4, 7-5. Sugiyama beat Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, 7-6 (1), 6-1.

Soccer

The CONCACAF Gold Cup will be held in the United States next year.

The Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean, is held in July of odd-numbered years.

Next year’s tournament is scheduled for July 6-24, with host venues to be announced.

Inter Milan, Chelsea and AC Milan stayed perfect as the European Champions League group stage reached the halfway mark.

Chelsea converted first-half headers from John Terry and Eidur Gudjohnsen, defeating CSKA Moscow, 2-0, at Stamford Bridge in London for its third victory.

Inter Milan got goals from five different players in its 5-1 victory over Valencia.

AC Milan also stayed perfect, thanks to Andriy Shevchenko’s goal in the 31st minute of a 1-0 victory over Barcelona.

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Cindy Parlow had a hat trick to lead the U.S. women’s national team over Ireland, 5-1, in an exhibition game at Chicago. Abby Wambach and Cat Reddick also scored for the Americans.

Miscellany

Val Ackerman is stepping down as president of the WNBA, a position she has held since the league’s inception in 1996, the Sports Business Daily reported.

Ackerman joined the NBA as an attorney in 1988, and served as a special assistant to Commissioner David Stern. She later became the league’s vice president of business affairs.

An official announcement could come as early as today, according to the newspaper, though Ackerman is expected to stay until February and lead the search for her successor.

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LPGA Tour rookie Isabelle Beisiegel shot a wind-blown eight-over-par 80, improving slightly on the second day of a regional PGA Tour qualifying tournament at La Quinta.

Beisiegel beat 15 men and tied two others on an uncharacteristically cold, windy and rainy day in the desert near Palm Springs.

Only one player was able to break par-72 on the 7,156-yard Greg Norman Course at PGA West. Her 164 total is seventh-highest among 84 golfers trying to earn one of 23 berths into sectional qualifying.

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The former Baylor basketball player accused of gunning down a teammate will be sent to a Texas state mental hospital for treatment before he can be tried for murder, a judge said.

State District Judge George Allen received a report from a court-appointed psychiatrist who said Carlton Dotson “consistently appears to be hallucinating” and needed medication at a psychiatric hospital.

Dotson, 22, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of shooting Patrick Dennehy.

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The NCAA has granted the academic waiver petition of Syracuse junior guard Billy Edelin, making him immediately eligible to play for the Orange.

Passings

A memorial service for Ray Cahill Jr., a member of USC’s 1967 Rose Bowl team and an All-City player at Manual Arts High, will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the First Church of God Center of Hope in Inglewood. Cahill died last Thursday of complications from cancer. He was 59.

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Chuck Hiller, who hit the National League’s first grand slam in the World Series while playing for the San Francisco Giants in 1962, has died. He was 70.

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Linda Collins Maurer, a pro golfer who became the first person to wear a “Medic Alert” bracelet after her parents created the chains, has died. She was 65. Maurer died Oct. 13 of breast cancer at her home in Turlock, Calif.