Sony Ericsson Open

The tournament is going to start on 19th March 2012. Who will be the tournament winners this year?

Let's follow below for your reference of the past winners, introduction of the tournament and history! :)

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The Miami Masters (currently sponsored by Sony Ericsson) is an annual tennis tournament for men and women held in Key Biscayne,Miami, Florida. It is an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the men's tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the women's tour and is played on hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park. The tournament is currently held in March each year.

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$9 million.)

In 1986, the tournament relocated to Boca Raton. After its successful second year there then-Dade County Manager and Women's Tennis Association (WTA) President Merrett Stierheim helped pave the way for a move to its permanent home in Key Biscayne in 1987. In keeping with the ambitions of its founder, the tournament is one of the premiere events in tennis.