MIAMI, Florida—-The 2009 Sony Ericsson Open officially began today as the best tennis players in the world converged in Florida for the mandatory Premier event.
The Draw
Top seed Serena Williams leads the draw at the Sony Ericsson Open, followed by Dinara Safina, Jelena Jankovic, Elena Dementieva, Venus Williams, Vera Zvonareva, Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Agnieszka Radwanska.
In total, thirty-two players are seeded and received first round byes. Venus and Serena Williams are positioned in the top half of the draw and could potentially meet in the semifinals.
The Players
Headed into the tournament, the early favorites for the title share the same surname. Venus and Serena Williams have traditionally dominated at their home tournament, winning eight singles titles between them since 1998. Other favorites include Dinara Safina and Vera Zvonareva.
Double Duty
Several familiar doubles teams have entered the draw at Miami. Co-ranked number ones Cara Black and Liezel Huber are the top seeds, followed by Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual.
Other teams to watch include the wild card pairing of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo, Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama, and Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs.
The Tour
The Sony Ericsson Open is still buzzing after the news was announced on Tuesday that Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Chairman and CEO Larry Scott is resigning. Speaking with the press today, Scott explained that he had been approached about the new job in January, but did not make his final decision until Sunday night.
“I had a long weekend of discussions with my wife, obviously, about it,” Scott said. “Once I made the decision Sunday night, had a board meeting Tuesday. Met with the players yesterday afternoon. It all happened very quickly after making the decision.”
On the Baseline’s live coverage of the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open is brought to you by Grand Slam Tennis Tours.
