MIAMI, Fla. (www.sonyericssonopen.com) – 2008 marked another record breaking year for the Sony Ericsson Open. The tournament recorded 10 session sellouts, set 10 session attendance records and shattered its all-time attendance record with 297,011 guests visiting the Tennis Center at Crandon Park.

The men’s final on Sunday, April 6 was sold out on Friday, March 28 marking the quickest sellout for a men’s final in tournament history.

But the record attendance is only part of the story.

In its second year as title sponsor of the Sony Ericsson Open, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications continues to raise the bar when it comes to presenting tennis to the world, and this year’s tournament was truly a complete entertainment experience for both fans and players alike.

The Tennis Center at Crandon Park was once again revitalized with bold colors and music welcoming guests to the tournament grounds, and even before fans passed by the signature fountain, guests were treated to an interactive entryway.  Everywhere people turned they were met with the sights and sounds of glitz and glamour, all matching the Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications brand identity that was launched for their mobile phones in December 2006. 

The Sony Ericsson Open has become one of the most glamorous events on tour and this year’s event was definitely the place to be seen in Miami. The names of those visiting the tournament this year was like a who’s who of the entertainment and sports industries including actors Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Brittany Murphy, and Pauly Shore; television host Star Jones-Reynolds; feature film director David Frankel; musicians Paulina Rubio, Alejandro Sanz, Jon McLaughlin, Kenny G, Common and Boyd Tinsley; race car drivers Helio Castroneves, Christian Fittipaldi and Emerson Fittipaldi; Miami Heat stars Dwyane Wade and Shawn Marion; former NBA All-Star Alonzo Mourning; NFL standouts Terrell Owens, Randy McMichael, Chris Chambers and Willis McGahee; and Florida Panthers Richard Zedinik and Brano Nezei.

The Sony Ericsson Open hosted a star-studded Kickoff Party at the trendy club Opium Garden on world famous South Beach. The red carpet event featured world renowned DJ Bob Sinclar and drew many celebrity guests including 10,000 BC star Camilla Bell, reality TV star Katrina Campins, former professional tennis player Anna Kournikova, supermodel and the face of Estée Lauder Hilary Rhoda, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models Quianna Grant, Jessica Gomes, Nicole Trunfio and Jarah Mariano, and the band Misshapes.

The Sony Ericsson Open continued to bring its guests the best in all-around entertainment in 2008. At the Sony Ericsson Open Fashion Park, the tournament hosted four fashion shows by world renowned designers Fila, EleVen by Venus Williams, Blumarine and the upscale local Village of Merrick Park.

Great tennis was not the only thing entertaining fans on Stadium Court this year. The Sony Ericsson Open brought in Island Def Jam recording artist Jon McLaughlin to perform his new single “Smack into You” and the National Anthem prior to the women’s final on April 5. Prior to the men’s final on April 6 the tournament hosted Kenny G, the biggest selling instrument musician in the modern era, who performed “Sabor A Mi” from his new album Rhythm and Romance as well as the National Anthem.

Once again the Sony Ericsson Open was a global event with 756 credentials issued to media from 36 countries including reporters from Venezuela, Uruguay, United States, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Switzerland, Sweden, Slovakia, Serbia and Montenegro, Russian Federation, Portugal, Poland, Peru, Panama, Netherlands, Mexico, Japan, Italy, Israel, Hungary, Guatemala, Germany, France, Finland, Ecuador, Denmark, Croatia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, Belgium, Austria, Australia, Argentina.

Both the men’s and women’s finals were broadcast on CBS. CBS has a long term contract with the tournament to showcase the finals through 2011. The tournament received over 2000 hours of television coverage globally on other networks. 

For the first time the Sony Ericsson Open took to the streets of Miami to bring tennis to people who may not normally visit the event on Key Biscayne. The tournament hosted events at Coconut Grove and Lincoln Road featuring video boards, player appearances and interactive games.

On Thursday, March 27 the Sony Ericsson Open kicked off its tour of Miami by hosting College Night at CocoWalk in Coconut Grove. The event featured a video board showing highlights from the 2007 tournament, a live remote by Power 96, a 2K Sports/Sony PlayStation area with the new video game Top Spin 3, a photo area where fans could take photos with Fila Ambassadors, and an autograph signing with ATP star Richard Gasquet and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour player Tamira Paszek.

Two days later the Tournament moved to Lincoln Road where it hosted the Sony Ericsson Open Experience from March 29-April 1. The four day event featured a video board showing live tournament action, complimentary seating, a 2K Sports/Sony PlayStation area with the new video game Top Spin 3, a Serve Cage where the fastest serve of the day winning tickets to the Sony Ericsson Open, and player autograph signings each day.

The Sony Ericsson Open also took the tournament to many of the local high schools in South Florida with several high school dance team performances and National Anthem singers prior to select evening matches on Stadium Court.

The Sony Ericsson Open continued its long tradition of community service in 2008.

The tournament continued its affiliation with the First Serve Organization which was started by the Buchholz family to empower young people by providing local tennis facilities and schools with a life skills program that promotes positive values, healthy habits and education through the game of tennis.

For the 12th year in a row, the Sony Ericsson Open joined international relief organization Feed the Children to distribute food and supplies to benefit thousands of South Florida children and families. 

On March 24, the Sony Ericsson Open and Feed The Children distributed 15 eighteen-wheelers with more than 399,500 pounds of food, beverages, personal care products, paper goods and Vertrue pharmacy cards. The 15 truckloads of goods were valued at more than $2,000,000 and were disturbed amongst 50 South Florida hunger relief agencies. Over the 12 year partnership the Sony Ericsson Open has distributed 4.4 million pounds of food valued at close to $12 million and supplemented close to 17 million meals to over 163,000 families.

A total of 88 player appearances were made during the Sony Ericsson Open including Nadia Petrova and Ivan Ljubicic visiting Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami to help build houses for needy families in Little Haiti.