Sony Ericsson Open Party Tour Begins this Thursday

© Sony Ericsson Open

SONY ERICSSON OPEN PARTY TOUR KICKS OFF THIS THURSDAY
Get a chance to win prizes and autographs from ATP and WTA players

Miami, Fla. (www.sonyericssonopen.com) – The Sony Ericsson Open Party Tour will kick off tomorrow night at its first stop in Coconut Grove. ATP World Tour player Stanislas Wawrinka and WTA player Agnieszka Radwanska will be signing autographs for the fans.

For the fifth consecutive year the Sony Ericsson Open is taking tennis to the people through its Party Tour, taking place during the first week of the tournament. The tour has two stops this year with the first at CocoWalk in Coconut Grove on Thursday, March 24 at 7:00p.m. The area, known for its boutiques, restaurants, and night clubs will transform into a tennis extravaganza giving fans a chance to enjoy much of what the Sony Ericsson Open has to offer. The following night, Friday March 25, at 7:00p.m., the tour moves to a newly added location, the Bayside Marketplace.

Each event will include a live remote from Power 96 who will be spinning the hottest music. Tennis enthusiasts can watch the pros on a large video board featuring Sony Ericsson Open highlights, have the opportunity to win prizes, and get autographs from ATP and WTA players.

Signing autographs on Thursday evening will be Stanislas Wawrinka and Agnieszka Radwanska.

Stanislas Wawrinka, current no. 13 seeded player, reached his career high ranking of no. 9 after a remarkable win at the 2008 Olympics in a doubles team along with Roger Federer. That same year, Wawrinka was awarded the 2008 Swiss Team of the Year Award. Back for his fourth year, Wawrinka is looking to take home the Sony Ericsson Title after last year’s win into the third round. Wawrinka, who received a bye into the second round, is scheduled to face his first opponent, Marcel Granollers this week.

For the fourth consecutive year, Agnieszka Radwanska, will make her appearance again on the purple courts at the Sony Ericsson Open. In 2010, the Polish star reached the Quarterfinals, but fell to Venus Williams. Radwanska reached her career high ranking of no. 8 in 2008, when she broke the record of becoming the first Polish woman to reach the Quarterfinals for three out of the four Grand Slam tournaments in one year.
The Sony Ericsson Open events at CocoWalk and Bayside Marketplace are free and open to the public.

Tickets to the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open are on sale now and can be purchased by phone (305-442-3367) or via internet at www.sonyericssonopen.com. An electrifying two weeks of tennis conclude with the women’s final on Saturday, April 2 and the men’s final on Sunday, April 3.

ABOUT THE SONY ERICSSON OPEN: The 2011 Sony Ericsson Open will be played March 21-April 3 at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Miami. The two-week combined event is owned and operated by IMG and is widely regarded as the most glamorous event on the ATP and WTA drawing over 300,000 guests each year including the biggest names in music, entertainment and sports. The Sony Ericsson Open is one of nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series events and a Premier Mandatory event on the WTA, and features the top men's and women's tennis players in the world including defending champions Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters. For ticket information, call (305) 442-3367 or visit the website at http://www.SonyEricssonOpen.com.

ABOUT SONY ERICSSON: Sony Ericsson celebrates its 10th year as a joint venture between Sony Corporation and Ericsson in October, 2011. Over the years the company has brought together the best communication technologies with superior entertainment user experiences to create its Xperia™ line of the most entertaining smartphones in the mobile handset industry. With its global corporate functions in London, Sony Ericsson has sales and marketing operations in all major regions of the world, as well as manufacturing in China, and product development sites in China, Japan, Sweden and Silicon Valley, California. For more information, please visit: www.sonyericsson.com/press.