Earnhardt denied No. 8 in his switch to new team

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not be taking his familiar No. 8 with him to Hendrick Motorsports next season.

Earnhardt is leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of the season and had hoped to take No. 8 with him to his new team. His late grandfather, Ralph, used that number and Earnhardt picked it when he entered the Cup series in 1999.

Although teams do not own numbers -- they are leased through NASCAR -- DEI had the first right of refusal on the No. 8, and Hendrick officials said Wednesday they could not reach an agreement that would have made DEI pass on it for the 2008 season.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t reach a point where the terms made sense, and now we have to move forward with other options,” said Marshall Carlson, general manager of Hendrick Motorsports.

Hendrick officials didn’t reveal what number Earnhardt will use when he starts his five-year deal.

Earnhardt’s sponsor has also not been announced, but Hendrick officials said Budweiser will not be on his car.

TENNIS

Nadal, Djokovic ousted on a day full of upsets

Losses by Rafael Nadal, looking nothing like the second-ranked player in the world, and Novak Djokovic, who last week beat the top three players in the world, marked a day of upsets and injuries in the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters at Mason, Ohio.

Nadal, his right knee wrapped and his left wrist aching, retired down, 4-1, in his match with Juan Monaco. The fourth-seeded Djokovic, who beat Andy Roddick, Nadal and Roger Federer en route to winning the Rogers Cup in Montreal fell to Carlos Moya, 6-4, 6-1.

Eighth-seeded Richard Gasquet retired trailing Lleyton Hewitt, 6-1, 3-2, because of a blister on his right hand. Altogether, six seeded players were beaten. Juan Carlos Ferrero beat sixth-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, 6-2, 7-6 (7); Nicolas Almagro beat 11th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4, 6-4; Sam Querry beat 13th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Top-seeded Roger Federer beat Julien Benneteau, 6-3, 6-3 Ninth-seeded James Blake defeated Nicolas Kiefer, 6-4, 6-4.

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Defending champion Ana Ivanovic lost to Zi Yan, 6-3, 6-1, in the second round of the Rogers Cup at Toronto.

Fifth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze trailed Virginie Razzano, 6-7 (5), 0-2, when she retired because of flu-like symptoms, and eighth-seeded Elena Dementieva lost to Francesca Schiavone, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2.

Top-seeded Justine Henin beat Andreja Klepac, 6-3, 6-1

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Two-time Grand Slam champion Amelie Mauresmo pulled out of the U.S. Open, citing a groin injury and the need to recover fully from the appendectomy she had in March.

Meanwhile, Wimbledon junior champion Donald Young and 6-foot-9 John Isner were among eight men granted wild-card spots.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Pac-10 changes made to UCLA schedule

To better accommodate television, UCLA has made changes in times and dates to its 2007-08 men’s basketball schedule, all involving games against Pacific 10 Conference teams.

The Bruins will play Washington State at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday Jan. 12. Also, the dates for home games against Arizona State and Arizona were switched. The Bruins will play host to the Sun Devils on Thursday, Jan. 31 and the Wildcats on Saturday, Feb. 2.

In addition, home games against Stanford and California were changed. The game against the Cardinal will take place Thursday, March 6, and the game against the Golden Bears will be played on Saturday, March 8.

Three away games were moved from Saturday to Sunday. UCLA will be at Washington on Sunday, Feb. 10, at USC on Feb. 17 and at Arizona on March 2. The tipoff for the USC game is now 7 p.m.

SOCCER

Chivas USA acquires Nuñez from FC Dallas

Chivas USA acquired Ramon Nuñez from FC Dallas for a conditional MLS draft pick in 2009. An attacking midfielder, Nuñez, 21, started in 10 of Dallas’ first 11 games. He scored three goals and two assists in the first 13 games -- by comparison Chivas’ starting midfielders have scored only four goals and 10 assists -- but Nunez was then relegated to the bench. The last game he played was July 4 against Chivas USA. He will be eligible to play Saturday at Toronto FC.

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Mexico’s national soccer team will play Panama Sept. 9 in Puebla, Mexico, the Mexican Football Federation announced two days after a game with the U.S. team in Mexico City was canceled.