Illness Forces Ferrero to Withdraw

Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, the 2003 French Open champion and U.S. Open runner-up, withdrew Thursday from the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden after being diagnosed with chickenpox.

Ferrero, the second-seeded player, will be replaced in the draw by Jeff Salzenstein, who will face wild-card entrant Alex Bogomolov Jr. in the first round.

"I found out yesterday that I had the chickenpox," Ferrero said in a statement. "Sometimes things happen and you can't do anything about it."

Ferrero lost to Brian Vahaly in the second round of last year's tournament.