Sony Ericsson Championships 2009 excitement builds as Dinara Safina becomes first qualifier

Russian, world no. 1 female tennis player, Dinara Safina is first to qualify for the much-anticipated 2009 Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, the glamorous finale tournament to this year’s Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

London – August 6, 2009 – The build-up to the 2009 Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha kicked off today with the announcement that Dinara Safina, world no. 1 female tennis player, is the first to qualify for the prestigious end-of-season tournament.

The Championships will again take place at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar. From October 27 to November 1, 2009. The world’s top, eight singles players and top four doubles teams from the 2009 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season will fight it out for the coveted Sony Ericsson Championships title and a share of record prize money of $4.45 million.

“We congratulate Dinara on being the first player to have qualified for the 2009 Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha. We look forward to building on the excitement of last year’s tournament,” said Aldo Liguori, Corporate Vice President and Head of Global Communications & PR for Sony Ericsson.

“Dinara has achieved great results this year and earned her spot as the first player to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. “Dinara’s impressive performance this year has included a terrific run which started in the spring and included winning three tournament titles and reaching the pinnacle of the sport as the World No. 1 along the way.”

“Qualifying for the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships is one of the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year,” said World No. 1 Dinara Safina. “I’ve accomplished a lot of milestones this season and am thrilled to be the first to qualify for the Championships. I look forward to returning to Doha and competing again for the Sony Ericsson Championships title.”

Sony Ericsson is committed to bringing entertainment, innovation and glamour to tennis and this year they will be building on the huge success of 2008’s ‘Desert Island Tennis’ which saw Ana Ivanovic and Elena Dementieva rally on a specially-built replica tennis court on Palm Island in the middle of Doha Bay held to mark the opening of the finale tournament. Always at the forefront of innovation, Sony Ericsson is committed to bringing entertainment and glamour to tennis, and taking the sport to new places and new audiences. Sony Ericsson’s style and technology has attracted a wider interest to women’s tennis and provided unique opportunities to the stars of the Tour.

The Championships were first played in 1972 and since then the event has been held in such notable venues as Madison Square Garden, New York City; the Olympiahalle in Munich; Staples Center in Los Angeles; and the Recinto Ferial Casa de Campo in Madrid. Former singles champions include Tracy Austin, Kim Clijsters, Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Martina Navratilova, Gabriela Sabatini, Serena Williams, Justine Henin and Venus Williams. Cara Black and Liezel Huber, defending champions in doubles, currently lead in the Doubles Race to Doha, followed by Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual.