Sony Open

A tennis tournament that is among the biggest and the most prestigious outside of the four grand slams will be making its way to you very soon. The Sony Open has been one of the major highlights of the annual tennis calendar and rightly so because of all the epic encounters that have been witnessed over its illustrious history. If you love tennis then you simply cannot afford to miss out on Sony Open tickets.

The Sony Ericsson Open or the Sony Open was an idea that was conceived by the former tennis player Butch Buchholz. The main thinking behind the start of the tournament was to make it the first big event of the year. During those days in the 1980’s the current first major of the year the Australian Open was held in December. Butch named it the Winter Wimbledon and went to the ATP and WTA with a proposal. He proposed that he will come up with the prize money. He also told them that they will get a share of the income generated through the sale of tickets and the TV broadcasting rights. All he wanted in return was the permission to stage the competition for fifteen years. The suggestion was simply too good to turn down for the WTA and the ATP so they agreed.

The inaugural edition was held in February, 1985. Alan Mills, the Wimbledon referee was brought onboard by Butch to oversee the proceedings. The protocol responsibilities were handed to the famous tennis designer Ted Tinling. The prize money for the tournament was set to be 1.8 million dollars that was the largest of any tennis tournament after the US Open and Wimbledon. Tim Mayotte etched his name in history by winning that debut event at the Laver’s International Tennis Resort.

It moved to Boca Raton next year. After the completion of the second event, that also turned out to be a huge success, it was decided to find a permanent home for the Sony Open. The then WTA president Merrett Stierheim played a big part in helping it shift to its current home at the Key Biscayne in the year 1987. It has grown in stature over the years which is why it is now one of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event as well as a Premier Mandatory WTA tournament. The fact it is held in March every year on a perfect hard court surface adds to the overall thrill. It is now attended by well over three hundred thousand fans over the course of its run thus making it one of the biggest tennis tournaments apart from the four Grand Slams. The total prize money has now swelled to over nine million dollars for men and women combined.

The Sony Open is one sensational tennis tournament. Its stature ensures that the biggest stars in the sport descend on Miami every year to dish up a stunning dose of tennis for the fans to enjoy. Grab your own Sony Open tickets and you can be one of the lucky ones who will get to catch it from the bleachers.