Sony Ericsson Open is the sponsored name of the annual tennis tournament, the Miami Masters . Sony Ericsson Open , a part of ATP Masters Series , is also included in the schedule of Women's Tennis Association or WTA Tour . The tournament is held at Miami in Florida. Sony Ericsson Open is often regarded as the most prestigious tournament on the program of the Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP Tour and WTA Tour . The event is also regarded to be the “Fifth Grand Slam” for its importance among the tennis players across the world. The origin of the Sony Ericsson Open dates back to 1985.
Sony Ericsson Open has been held regularly since 1985. At the beginning the tournament was known as the Lipton International Players Championships . The tournament is played on hard courts. Usually Sony Ericsson Open is arranged in the months of March and April every year. In 2007, the tournament was also scheduled to start from March 21, which ended on April 1. The program of Sony Ericsson Open included both men's and women's competitions. Both the competitions followed the 96 draws format. Amount of prize money, which was given to the winners of each of men's and women's competitions, was $ 3,450,000.
Since 1985, Sony Ericsson Open has been held every year. Famous players from all over the world have been participating in the tournament. In 1985, men's singles competition was won by Tim Mayotte . On that occasion, the doubles title was won by Paul Annacone and Christo Van Rensburg. Novak Djokovic was the winner of 2007 Sony Ericsson Open . Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan bagged the doubles title in the 2007 tournament. Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi , Pete Sampras , Richard Krajicek, Marcelo Rios, Thomas Muster, Michael Chang, Jim Courier, Ivan Lendl and Mats Wilander are some of the winners of the Sony Ericsson Open . Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge have won the doubles title on four occasions.
Martina Navratilova won the singles title at the women's competition during the 1985 Sony Ericsson Open . The doubles competition was won by Navratilova along with Gigi Fernandez. At the 2007 tournament, the singles competition was won by Serena Williams . Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur were the winnersof doubles competition during the 2007 Sony Ericsson Open . Other players, who have won the prestigious titles during the Sony Ericsson Open , are Svetlana Kuznetsova, Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams, Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf , Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Monica Seles , Gabriela Sabatini, Chris Evert, Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova.
During the 1985 Sony Ericsson Open , mixed doubles competition was also held. Heinz Gunthardt and Martina Navratilova won the mixed doubles title on that occasion.
