Miami Open (tennis)

Sony Ericsson Open

The Miami Masters is an annual tennis tournament for men and women held at Key Biscayne, in Miami, Florida. The event's current sponsored name is the Sony Ericsson Open.

The event is part of the ATP Masters Series on the men's tour and is a Tier 1 event on the women's tour. The tournament is played on hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park. The event is currently held in March each year.

The tournament is widely regarded as the most prestigious on the ATP and WTA tours, and was given the nickname "Fifth Grand Slam". Its importance is reflected by the WTA's decision to designate it a mandatory event, like the 4 Grand Slam tournaments.

The event was initially known as the Lipton International Players Championships. In 2000 there was a change of title sponsor and the event was renamed the Ericsson Open. In 2002, the event became known as the NASDAQ-100 Open. In 2007, the tournament was renamed the Sony Ericsson Open in a deal where the company will pay $20 million over the next four years.

History

The tournament was founded by former player Butch Buchholz. His original aim was to make the event the first major tournament of the year (the Australian Open was held in December at that time), and he dubbed it the "Winter Wimbledon". Buchholz approached the ATP and the WTA and offered to provide the prize-money and give them a percentage of the ticket sales and worldwide television rights in return for the right to run the tournament for 15 years. The two associations agreed.

The first tournament was held in February 1985 at Laver's International Tennis Resort at Delray Beach, Florida. Buchholz brought in Alan Mills, the tournament referee at Wimbledon, as the head referee; and Ted Tinling, a well-known tennis fashion designer since the 1920s, as the director of protocol. The prize money of US$1.8 million was surpassed only by Wimbledon and the US Open at the time. (The event's prize-money has since grown to over US$6 million.)

In 1986, the tournament relocated to Boca Raton. It moved to its permanent home at Key Biscayne in 1987.

Event characteristics

Besides the four Grand Slam championships, the Miami Masters one of the few events on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tours where the main singles draw (for both the men and the women) involves more than 64 players, and where main draw play extends beyond one week. 96 men and 96 women compete in the singles competition, and 32 teams compete in each of the doubles competitions. The event lasts for 12 days.

Given its size, history, and the fact that it is a combined event involving both men and women, some people consider the Miami Masters to be the sixth most prestigious event on the ATP and WTA tours – after the four Grand Slams and the Tennis Masters Cup / WTA Tour Championships.

In 2006, the tournament became the first event in the United States to utilize instant replay to allow players to challenge close line calls. Players were be allowed two challenges per set, with an additional challenge allowed for tiebreaks. The first challenge made was by Jamea Jackson against Ashley Harkleroad in the first round.

Past Results

Men's singles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score in final
2008	Nikolay Davydenko	Rafael Nadal	6-4, 6-2
2007	Novak Djokovic	Guillermo Cañas	6-3, 6-2, 6-4
2006	Roger Federer	Ivan Ljubičić	7-6, 7-6, 7-6
2005	Roger Federer	Rafael Nadal	2-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-1
2004	Andy Roddick	Guillermo Coria	6-7, 6-3, 6-1, retired
2003	Andre Agassi	Carlos Moyà	6-3, 6-3
2002	Andre Agassi	Roger Federer	6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
2001	Andre Agassi	Jan-Michael Gambill	7-6, 6-1, 6-0
2000	Pete Sampras	Gustavo Kuerten	6-1, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6
1999	Richard Krajicek	Sébastien Grosjean	4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 7-5
1998	Marcelo Ríos	Andre Agassi	7-5, 6-3, 6-4
1997	Thomas Muster	Sergi Bruguera	7-6, 6-3, 6-1
1996	Andre Agassi	Goran Ivanišević	3-0, retired
1995	Andre Agassi	Pete Sampras	3-6, 6-2, 7-6
1994	Pete Sampras	Andre Agassi	5-7, 6-3, 6-3
1993	Pete Sampras	MaliVai Washington	6-3, 6-2
1992	Michael Chang	Alberto Mancini	7-5, 7-5
1991	Jim Courier	David Wheaton	4-6, 6-3, 6-4
1990	Andre Agassi	Stefan Edberg	6-1, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2
1989	Ivan Lendl	Thomas Muster	walkover
1988	Mats Wilander	Jimmy Connors	6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
1987	Miloslav Mečíř	Ivan Lendl	7-5, 6-2, 7-5
1986	Ivan Lendl	Mats Wilander	3-6, 6-1, 7-6, 6-4
1985	Tim Mayotte	Scott Davis	4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

Women's singles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
2008	Serena Williams	Jelena Janković	6-1, 5-7, 6-3
2007	Serena Williams	Justine Henin	0-6, 7-5, 6-3
2006	Svetlana Kuznetsova	Maria Sharapova	6-4, 6-3
2005	Kim Clijsters	Maria Sharapova	6-3, 7-5
2004	Serena Williams	Elena Dementieva	6-1, 6-1
2003	Serena Williams	Jennifer Capriati	4-6, 6-4, 6-1
2002	Serena Williams	Jennifer Capriati	7-5, 7-6(4)
2001	Venus Williams	Jennifer Capriati	4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4)
2000	Martina Hingis	Lindsay Davenport	6-3, 6-2
1999	Venus Williams	Serena Williams	6-1, 4-6, 6-4
1998	Venus Williams	Anna Kournikova	2-6, 6-4, 6-1
1997	Martina Hingis	Monica Seles	6-2, 6-1
1996	Steffi Graf	Chanda Rubin	6-1, 6-3
1995	Steffi Graf	Kimiko Date	6-1, 6-4
1994	Steffi Graf	Natasha Zvereva	4-6, 6-1, 6-2
1993	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Steffi Graf	6-4, 3-6, 6-3
1992	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Gabriela Sabatini	6-1, 6-4
1991	Monica Seles	Gabriela Sabatini	6-3, 7-5
1990	Monica Seles	Judith Wiesner	6-1, 6-2
1989	Gabriela Sabatini	Chris Evert	6-1, 4-6, 6-2
1988	Steffi Graf	Chris Evert	6-4, 6-4
1987	Steffi Graf	Chris Evert	6-1, 6-2
1986	Chris Evert	Steffi Graf	6-4, 6-2
1985	Martina Navrátilová	Chris Evert	6-2, 6-4

Men's doubles

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
2008	Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan	Mahesh Bhupathi / Mark Knowles	6-2, 6-2
2007	Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan	Martin Damm / Leander Paes	6-7, 6-3, (10-7)
2006	Jonas Björkman / Max Mirnyi	Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan	6-4, 6-4
2005	Jonas Björkman / Max Mirnyi	Wayne Black / Kevin Ullyett	6-1, 6-2
2004	Wayne Black / Kevin Ullyett	Jonas Björkman / Todd Woodbridge	6-2, 7-6
2003	Roger Federer / Max Mirnyi	Leander Paes / David Rikl	7-5, 6-3
2002	Mark Knowles / Daniel Nestor	Donald Johnson / Jared Palmer	6-3, 3-6, 6-1
2001	Jiří Novák / David Rikl	Jonas Björkman / Todd Woodbridge	7-5, 7-6
2000	Todd Woodbridge / Mark Woodforde	Martin Damm / Dominik Hrbatý	6-3, 6-4
1999	Wayne Black / Sandon Stolle	Boris Becker / Jan-Michael Gambill	6-1, 6-1
1998	Ellis Ferreira / Rick Leach	Alex O'Brien / Jonathan Stark	6-2, 6-4
1997	Todd Woodbridge / Mark Woodforde	Mark Knowles / Daniel Nestor	7-6, 7-6
1996	Todd Woodbridge / Mark Woodforde	Ellis Ferreira / Patrick Galbraith	6-1, 6-3
1995	Todd Woodbridge / Mark Woodforde	Jim Grabb / Patrick McEnroe	6-3, 7-6
1994	Jacco Eltingh / Paul Haarhuis	Mark Knowles / Jared Palmer	7-6, 7-6
1993	Richard Krajicek / Jan Siemerink	Patrick McEnroe / Jonathan Stark	6-7, 6-4, 7-6
1992	Ken Flach / Todd Witsken	Kent Kinnear / Sven Salumaa	6-4, 6-3
1991	Wayne Ferreira / Piet Norval	Ken Flach / Robert Seguso	5-7, 7-6, 6-2
1990	Rick Leach / Jim Pugh	Boris Becker / Cassio Motta	6-3, 6-4
1989	Jakob Hlasek / Anders Järryd	Jim Grabb / Patrick McEnroe	6-3, retired
1988	John Fitzgerald / Anders Järryd	Ken Flach / Robert Seguso	7-6, 6-1, 7-5
1987	Paul Annacone / Christo Van Rensburg	Ken Flach / Robert Seguso	6-2, 6-4, 6-4
1986	Brad Gilbert / Vince Van Patten	Stefan Edberg / Anders Järryd	W/O
1985	Paul Annacone / Christo Van Rensburg	Sherwood Stewart / Kim Warwick	7-5, 7-5, 6-4

Women's doubles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
2008	Katarina Srebotnik Ai Sugiyama	Cara Black Liezel Huber	7–5, 4–6, (10–3)
2007	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur	Cara Black Liezel Huber	6-4, 3-6, (10-2)
2006	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur	Liezel Huber Martina Navrátilová	6-4, 7-5
2005	Svetlana Kuznetsova Alicia Molik	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2
2004	Nadia Petrova Meghann Shaughnessy	Svetlana Kuznetsova Elena Likhovtseva	6-2, 6-3
2003	Liezel Huber Magdalena Maleeva	Shinobu Asagoe Nana Miyagi	6-4, 3-6, 7-5
2002	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	7-6(4), 6-7(4), 6-3
2001	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Nathalie Tauziat	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	6-0, 6-4
2000	Julie Halard-Decugis Ai Sugiyama	Nicole Arendt Manon Bollegraf	4-6, 7-5, 6-4
1999	Martina Hingis Jana Novotná	Mary Joe Fernández Monica Seles	0-6, 6-4, 7-6(1)
1998	Martina Hingis Jana Novotná	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Natasha Zvereva	6-2, 3-6, 6-3
1997	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Natasha Zvereva	Sabine Appelmans Miriam Oremans	6-4, 6-2
1996	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Meredith McGrath Larisa Savchenko Neiland	6-4 6-4
1995	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	7-5, 2-6, 6-3
1994	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	Patty Fendick Meredith McGrath	6-3, 6-1
1993	Jana Novotná Larisa Savchenko Neiland	Jill Hetherington Kathy Rinaldi	6-2, 7-5
1992	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Larisa Savchenko Neiland	Jill Hetherington Kathy Rinaldi	7-5, 5-7, 6-3
1991	Mary Joe Fernández Zina Garrison Jackson	Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná	7-5, 6-2
1990	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	Betsy Nagelsen Robin White	6-4, 6-3
1989	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	Gigi Fernández Lori McNeil	7-6(5), 6-4
1988	Steffi Graf Gabriela Sabatini	Gigi Fernández Zina Garrison Jackson	7-6(6), 6-3
1987	Martina Navrátilová Pam Shriver	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	6-3, 7-6(6)
1986	Pam Shriver Helena Suková	Chris Evert Wendy Turnbull	6-2, 6-3
1985	Gigi Fernández Martina Navrátilová	Kathy Jordan Hana Mandlíková	7-6(4), 6-2

Mixed Doubles

A mixed doubles competition was also held at the inaugural tournament in 1985, and was won by Heinz Günthardt & Martina Navrátilová.

Trivia

• The men's final has been abandoned three times since the tournament's inception.
  • In 1989, Thomas Muster was hit by a drunk driver the night before the final, which put him in a wheelchair for months. He was able to win the championship eight years later.
  • In 1996, Goran Ivanišević retired from the match early with a stiff neck.
  • In 2004, Guillermo Coria retired after three sets due to back pain and an inability to move properly. The problem later turned out to be gall stones.
• On the womens side, Serena Williams and Steffi Graf have the record of 5 titles.

External links

• Official tournament website
• Watch Miami Masters LIVE Online
• Miami Masters LIVE
• Satellite view of the tournament venue (Google Maps)