Miami, Fla. (www.sonyericssonopen.com) – The USTA has announced that Sony Ericsson Open ambassador Mary Joe Fernandez will take over as U.S. Fed Cup captain in 2009. Fernandez will serve as a coach for the 2008 Fed Cup team which will be captained by her former doubles partner Zina Garrison.

Fernandez, a Miami native, has served as an ambassador for the Sony Ericsson Open since 2003.

As a player, Fernandez posted a 16-10 record (12-8 singles) in 18 Fed Cup ties and helped the U.S. Fed Cup team reach the finals in four of her six years on the team, including a title win in 1996.

During her professional career, Fernandez won seven Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles and 19 doubles titles. She captured two Grand Slam doubles titles, one at the Australian Open in 1991 and one at the 1996 French Open.

Fernandez is also a three-time Olympic medalist having captured the gold medal in doubles and bronze medal in singles in Barcelona in 1992, as well as second doubles gold medal in Atlanta in 1996.

Since retiring from the Tour in 2000 Fernandez has served as a television analyst for both ESPN and CBS.

ABOUT THE SONY ERICSSON OPEN: The 2008 Sony Ericsson Open will be played March 26- April 6 at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Miami. The 12-day combined event, founded by Butch Buchholz in 1985, is owned by IMG. The Sony Ericsson Open is one of nine ATP Masters Series events on the ATP calendar, a top tier event on the Sony Ericsson WTA TOUR calendar, and features the top men's and women's tennis players in the world. In 2007, Novak Djokovic defeated Guillermo Canas for his first Sony Ericsson Open title, while Serena Williams defeated Justine Henin to win her fourth title in Miami. For ticket information, call (305) 442-3367 or visit the website at http://www.SonyEricssonOpen.com.

ABOUT SONY ERICSSON: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications serves the global communications market with innovative and feature-rich mobile phones, accessories and PC-cards. Established as a joint venture by Sony and Ericsson in 2001, with global corporate functions located in London, including R&D sites in Europe, Japan, China, India and America. Sony Ericsson celebrated the 5th anniversary of the start of the joint venture on 1st October, 2006.

Sony Ericsson is the global title sponsor of the Women's Tennis Association, and works with the Association to promote the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in over 80 cities during the year. The 2008 tour culminates with the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar, in November.