KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (www.sonyericssonopen.com) – The 2008 Sony Ericsson Open continues its commitment to the community. The Sony Ericsson Open donated four courtside box seats to the three-time Sony Ericsson Open champion Venus Williams donated four tickets to her opening match at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 28 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida as well as the chance to meet and greet the six-time Grand Slam winner.

In all, the Sony Ericsson Open, Venus Williams and the Gullikson Foundation donated four box seats to Williams Friday-night match, a meet and greet with Williams after her match and an autographed shirt and jacket from Williams’ EleVen clothing line.

The donation didn’t stop there, also included in the package were two tickets to the Hall of Fame Classic, two invitations to the Smash Gala dinner reception hosted by Sony Ericsson Open commentator and International Tennis Hall of Famer Bud Collins and one invitation to participate in the Smash Celebrity-Am golf tournament. Davis Cup Captain, Olympic Team Captain and Grand Slam Team Champion Tom Gullikson added one-hour of private hitting lessons into the package and if that wasn’t enough IMG threw in an invitation to one of the hottest parties on South Beach this year, the Sony Ericsson Open Players Party at Opium Garden.

The $7,500 winning bid was one of the largest of the evening. Tuesday night’s event was not the first time Williams has been involved in the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2006 she donated a wish on the Williams Sisters Exhibition Tour.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida is a nonprofit organization that serves children and families in 13 Florida counties. It is one of 67 Make-A-Wish chapters in the United States. Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children who have life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.

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 was established as a 50:50 joint venture by Sony and Ericsson in October 2001, with global corporate functions located in London. The company serves the worldwide communications market with innovative and feature-rich mobile phones, accessories and PC-cards, and it has R&D sites in Europe, Japan, China, India and America. Sony Ericsson is the 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. For more information, please visit www.sonyericsson.com.