Sony Ericsson Open set to mark five million attendees upon 25th anniversary in 2009
This entry was posted on April 16, 2008 11:22 PM and is filed under In the News.
By Liza Horan
New York—The tournament in Key Biscayne—formerly The Lipton International Players Championships, The Ericsson Open, and The NASDAQ-100 Open before becoming the
Sony Ericsson Open in 2007—has a big birthday coming.
Next year is the 25th anniversary of the event, founded by former player and former ATP chief Butch Buchholz. Since the first ball was struck on a court in Delray Beach, its first home, the tournament has been setting records. The prize money that year reportedly was $1.8 million, right behind Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. This year the purse was $7.54 million, justifying its status as "the fifth Grand Slam."
That first year Martina Navratilova won the triple crown of singles against Carling Bassett (not yet Seguso), doubles with Gigi Fernandez and mixed with Heinz Gunthardt, who went on to coach Steffi Graf to win five singles titles there. This year Serena Williams tied that record with a three-setter over Jelena Jankovic. Nikolay Davydenko achieved his first trophy at Crandon Park by beating Rafael Nadal in straight sets. Bob and Mike Bryan solidified their No. 1 ranking by winning the doubles event for second time. On the women's side, Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama triumphed.
Back to 1985: Tim Mayotte beat Scott Davis to become the debut men's champ, while the doubles prize went to Christo Van Rensburg and Paul Annacone, who is the former coach of three-time winner Pete Sampras.
There's lots of history in Key Biscayne, but news, too.
The 2008 edition inched the tournament very close to the 300,000 mark for attendance. This year's attendance (297,011 fans) beat last year's by almost 10,000 people.
Tennis in South Florida is like sand in the desert—it's everywhere—but sustaining and growing a world-class pro tournament is a coup. Besides turning 25 in 2009, the tournament is poised to surpass five million attendees since its inception. Be assured that the Florida tourism department is toasting Buchholz and team.
There's no telling right now what festivities will mark the silver anniversary of the Key Biscayne tournament—hopefully the staff is enjoying a well-earned vacation—but if this year's event is any preview, it'll be a hot ticket.
Related link:
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Another Record Breaking Year for the Sony Ericsson Open" (press release)
Photo courtesy Sony Ericsson Open
