Sony Ericsson Open Player Field Announced

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MIAMI, Fla. (www.sonyericssonopen.com) – The 2012 Sony Ericsson Open men’s and women’s player fields were announced today and the event will feature the top 78 ranked men and the 76 top ranked women in the world of tennis.

The tournament, which is owned and operated by IMG, boasts a Grand Slam quality players’ field including Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki.

The world’s best will once again converge at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park, March 19-April 1 to compete for one of the most prestigious titles in tennis.

Tickets to the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open are on sale now and can be purchased by phone (305-442-3367) or online at www.sonyericssonopen.com. An electrifying two weeks of tennis conclude with the women’s final on Saturday, March 31 and the men’s final on Sunday, April 1.

The qualifying rounds will be played March 19-20 and will determine 12 more slots in each singles draw. The tournament will award wildcards; five for the men’s field and eight for the women’s. The main draw kicks-off Tuesday, March 20 with the women. The men take the court starting Wednesday, March 21.

Both Azarenka and Djokovic will return to defend their 2011 Sony Ericsson Open titles and are coming off victories at this year’s Australian Open. The Australian Open finals were both rematches of last year’s Sony Ericsson Open finals with Azarenka defeating Sharapova for her first Grand Slam title and Djokovic knocking off Nadal for his fifth Grand Slam title.

The two will be considered favorites to repeat in Miami, but the contenders to claim the Sony Ericsson Open Butch Buchholz Trophy in 2012, are numerous indeed.

Rafael Nadal, a three-time Sony Ericsson Open finalist, will look to build upon his 2011 season which saw the Spanish star claim his sixth French Open title and appear in the finals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Roger Federer, a 16-time Grand Slam champion, will return to Miami seeking his third Sony Ericsson Open title and his first since 2006. Andy Murray, the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open champion, is already playing in mid-season form having reached the semi-finals of this year’s Australian Open as well as the U.S. Open, Wimbledon and the French Open in 2011.

The women’s field is also loaded. If Azarenka is to repeat as champion she will have to navigate through a stellar field including five-time Sony Ericsson Open champion Serena Williams, three-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova, four-time Grand Slam champ Kim Clijsters and former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki.

But the Sony Ericsson Open is more than just tennis; it is a total entertainment experience. High fashion, fine food, fabulous shopping and celebrity musical performances have made the tournament the most glamorous on tour.

Come see why huge crowds as well as the biggest names in music, entertainment and sports like Owen Wilson, LeBron James, Adrien Brody, Kim Kardashian, Anna Wintour, Jimmy Buffett, Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Anna Kournikova, Jack Nicklaus and Dwyane Wade visit the Sony Ericsson Open each spring.

Don’t miss your chance to see the greatest tennis players in the world at the most glamorous event on Tour! Get you tickets today. You can call the Sony Ericsson Open ticket office at 305-442-3367 or email the ticket office at tickets@imgworld.com for more information.

Sony Ericsson Open ATP World Tour Acceptance List

Djokovic Novak SRB 1
Nadal Rafael ESP 2
Federer Roger SUI 3
Murray Andy GBR 4
Ferrer David ESP 5
Tsonga Jo-Wilfried FRA 6
Berdych Tomas CZE 7
Fish Mardy USA 8
Tipsarevic Janko SRB 9
Del Potro Juan Martin ARG 10
Almagro Nicolas ESP 11
Simon Gilles FRA 12
Monfils  Gael FRA 13
Soderling Robin SWE 14
Lopez Feliciano ESP 15
Gasquet Richard FRA 16
Isner John USA 17
Dolgopolov Alexandr UKR 18
Roddick Andy USA 19
Haas Tommy GER 20
Nishikori Kei JPN 20
Mayer Florian GER 21
Troicki Viktor SRB 22
Monaco Juan ARG 23
Cilic  Marin CRO 24
Chela Juan Ignacio ARG 25
Verdasco Fernando ESP 26
Granollers Marcel ESP 27
Wawrinka Stanislas SUI 28
Raonic Milos CAN 29
Stepanek Radek CZE 30
Kohlschreiber Philipp GER 31
Youzhny Mikhail RUS 32
Ljubicic Ivan CRO 33
Bogomolov Jr. Alex RUS 34
Benneteau Julien FRA 35
Tomic Bernard AUS 36
Anderson Kevin RSA 37
Bellucci Thomaz BRA 38
Young Donald USA 39
Melzer Jurgen AUT 40
Baghdatis Marcos CYP 41
Seppi Andreas ITA 42
Karlovic Ivo CRO 43
Berlocq Carlos ARG 44
Llodra Michael FRA 45
Andujar Pablo ESP 46
Nieminen Jarkko FIN 47
Ferrero Juan Carlos ESP 48
Tursunov Dmitry RUS 49
Rochus Olivier BEL 50
Davydenko Nikolay RUS 51
Montanes Albert ESP 52
Fognini Fabio ITA 53
Haase Robin NED 54
Dodig Ivan CRO 55
Petzschner Philipp GER 56
Kubot Lukasz POL 57
Istomin Denis UZB 58
Blake James USA 59
Falla Alejandro COL 60
Kikishkin Mikhail KAZ 61
Lu Yen-Hsun TPE 62
Muller Gilles LUX 63
Chardy Jeremy FRA 64
Lacko Lukas  SVK 65
Ramos Albert ESP 66
Giraldo Santiago COL 67
Starace Potito ITA 68
Stakhovsky Sergiy UKR 69
Volandri Filippo ITA 70
Gulbis Ernests LAT 71
Stebe Cedrik-Marcel GER 72
Machado Rui POR 73
Sela Dudi ISR 74
Malisse Xavier BEL 75
Sweeting Ryan USA 76
Mayer Leonardo ARG 77
Rosol Lukas CZE 78

Sony Ericsson Open WTA Acceptance List

Azarenka Victoria BLR 1
Kvitova Petra CZE 2
Sharapova Maria RUS 3
Wozniacki Caroline DEN 4
Stosur Samantha AUS 5
Radwanska Agnieszka POL 6
Bartoli Marion FRA 7
Zvonareva Vera RUS 8
Li Na CHN 9
Petkovic Andrea GER 10
Schiavone Francesca ITA 11
Williams Serena USA 12
Jankovic Jelena SRB 13
Lisicki Sabine GER 14
Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia RUS 15
Cibulkova Dominika SVK 16
Peng Shuai CHN 17
Ivanovic Ana  SRB 18
Kuznetsova Svetlana RUS 19
Hantuchova Daniela SVK 20
Goerges Julia GER 21
Pennetta Flavia ITA 22
Vinci Roberta ITA 23
Medina Garrigues Anabel ESP 24
Kanepi Kaia EST 25
Kirilenko Maria RUS 26
Kerber Angelique GER 27
Safarova Lucie CZE 28
Wickmayer Yanina BEL 29
Clijsters Kim BEL 30
Cetkovska Petra CZE 31
Niculescu Monica ROU 32
Petrova Nadia RUS 33
Errani Sara ITA 34
Zheng Jie CHN 35
Hercog Polona SLO 36
Peer Shahar ISR 37
McHale Christina M USA 38
Martinez Sanchez Maria Jose ESP 39
Gajdosova Jarmila AUS 40
Pervak Ksenia KAZ 41
Makarova Ekaterina RUS 42
Barthel Mona GER 43
Scheepers Chanelle RSA 44
Begu Irina-Camelia ROU 45
Voskoboeva Galina KAZ 46
Hradecka Lucie CZE 47
Paszek Tamira AUT 48
Benesova Iveta CZE 49
Pironkova Tsvetana K BUL 50
Zakopalova Klara CZE 51
Vesnina Elena RUS 52
Zahlavova Strycova Barbora CZE 53
Cirstea Sorana ROU 54
Suarez Navarro Carla ESP 55
Erakovic Marina NZL 56
Baltacha Elena GBR 57
Larsson Johanna J SWE 58
King Vania USA 59
Chakvetadze Anna RUS 59
Halep Simona ROU 60
Dulgheru Alexandra ROU 61
Parmentier Pauline B FRA 62
Oprandi Romina SUI 63
Morita Ayumi JPN 64
Yakimova Anastasiya BLR 65
Martic Petra CRO 66
Dokic Jelena AUS 67
Mattek-Sands Bethanie USA 68
Dulko Gisela ARG 69
Rybarikova Magdalena SVK 70
Brianti Alberta ITA 71
Pous-Tio Laura ESP 72
Johansson Mathilde C FRA 73
Arvidsson Sofia SWE 74
Marino Rebecca C CAN 75

ABOUT THE SONY ERICSSON OPEN: The 2012 Sony Ericsson Open will be played March 19-April 1 at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Miami. The two-week combined event, founded by Butch Buchholz in 1985, is owned and operated by IMG. The Sony Ericsson Open is one of nine ATP Masters 1000 Series events on the ATP calendar, a Premier Mandatory event on the WTA calendar, and features the top men's and women's tennis players in the world. In 2011 Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal for his second Sony Ericsson Open title, while Victoria Azarenka knocked off Maria Sharapova to capture her second title in Miami. For ticket information, call (305) 442-3367 or visit the website at www.SonyEricssonOpen.com.

ABOUT SONY ERICSSON: Sony Ericsson is a 50:50 joint venture between Sony Corporation (“Sony”) and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (“Ericsson”). In October 2011 it was announced by Sony and Ericsson that Sony will acquire Ericsson’s stake in the company and that Sony Ericsson will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony. The transaction is expected to close in January 2012 and is subject to regulatory approvals. Over the years Sony Ericsson 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.

ABOUT IMG: IMG Worldwide is a global sports, entertainment and media business, with nearly 3,000 employees operating in 30 countries around the globe. IMG’s areas of expertise are diverse and wide ranging:  IMG College; IMG’s Joint Ventures in China, Brazil and India; IMG Media; IMG Events and Federations; IMG Fashion; IMG Models; IMG Art+Commerce; IMG Clients; IMG Academies; IMG Consulting and IMG Licensing.  More information is available at www.imgworld.com.