Sony Ericsson Brings “Night Tennis” to Miami –
2007 Sony Ericsson Open Marks U.S. Launch

Paul Oakenfold, Masters at Work and Murk join Sony Ericsson to bring a revolutionary new tennis experience to Miami featuring an ‘Ultra-Violet’ fashion show by GEN ART

Miami, Florida – Sony Ericsson has announced the U.S. launch of “NIGHT TENNIS” in Miami, a revolutionary new concept that combines an “ultra-violet” tennis tournament, the world’s best DJ acts and a “neon” fashion feast – all in the dark – taking place from 11:00p.m. on March 22 and 23 at the Ice Palace Film Studio, 1400 North Miami Avenue. Miami. Fl 33136.  Attendance is free to the public by registering for tickets online at www.night-tennis.com <http://www.night-tennis.com>  

Eight players from the professional ranks will take to the court wearing specially designed neon whites to serve up a new type of tennis. Played in pitch black, with UV as the only source of light, its fast paced round robin format promises to revolutionize the way tennis is played and watched. Sony Ericsson introduces a new set of rules exclusively for its Night Tennis experience.
 
Night Tennis will provide clubbers with a sensory extravaganza like no other. Each tennis game is punctuated by explosive beats and an incredible light show, delivered to the audience on a unique 25-foot projection screen. The balls, court and net along with player’s shirts, skirts and shoes will be illuminated and fully UV reactive.  In between games a fashion collection extravaganza by JULIAN CHANG and Gen Art will showcase the latest in neon style. Paul Oakenfold, Masters at Work and Murk will be taking to the decks and promise to rock Miami with classic house tunes after the final ball has been played on each night.
 
Night Tennis is part of Sony Ericsson’s sponsored entertainment, competitions and events program running during the week of the Sony Ericsson Open (March 21st – April 1st). This is the second Night Tennis event, the first premiered in Madrid during the Sony Ericsson Championships in November 2006.
 
As each evening of tennis draws to a close and the adrenaline starts to drop, Murk will warm up the crowd up with their Miami Classics set. On the Thursday night, Masters at Work will follow, playing their legendary New York Classics set and Friday night will see legendary DJ Paul Oakenfold take the crowd dancing long into the night with his Classics set.
 
Paul Oakenfold is a pioneer of the dance music scene and likes to be ahead of the game. He is therefore looking forward to performing at Night Tennis: “I’m very intrigued by the whole Night Tennis concept - who would have expected sport and electronic culture to be combined in this way? The opportunity to play a rare set of classics at the Winter Music Conference is something that is a challenge as well as being a real night of nostalgia for me and the people of Miami.”
 
Louie Vega from Masters At Work says, “We are delighted to be invited to play at this unique event during the Miami conference week. To play a night of complete classics for the Miami week will be very special for us.”

Dee Dutta, CVP and Head of Marketing for Sony Ericsson explains, “Sony Ericsson is really excited to be staging Night Tennis at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Our aim is to create a party experience that young people in the city can enjoy, bringing them closer to the excitement and power of the stadium tennis being played by some of the world’s most famous sports stars. It’s brilliant to have DJs like Paul Oakenfold and Masters at Work onboard for Night Tennis. We’re looking forward to a truly spectacular event.
 
Our partnership with the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is the largest and most innovative in the history of the sport. We are making the game more fan friendly, interactive and exciting through music and technology – live bands at events, live scoring and enhanced content to mobile phones.”
 
The Sony Ericsson Open will be held at the Tennis Centre at Crandon Park, Miami, Florida from March 21 - April 1, 2007. It boasts the strongest full-field of players from both the ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour outside the Grand Slams. 96 men and 96 women in the singles and 32 men's teams and 32 women's teams in the doubles will vie for over $6.9 million in prize money. Defending champions are Roger Federer in the men’s singles, Svetlana Kuznetsova in the women’s singles, Jonas Bjorkman/Max Mirnyi in the men’s doubles and Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur in the women’s doubles.
 
Tickets for Sony Ericsson’s Night Tennis are free! For more information and to register for tickets online, visit http://www.sonyericsson.com/miami or
http://www.night-tennis.com . Night Tennis will take place at the Ice Palace Film Studio, 1400 North Miami Avenue. Miami. Fl 33136 from 11:00p.m. to 4:00a.m. on Thursday, March 22 and Friday, March 23.
 
Time Table
Thursday, March 22nd 2007
23:00 - Doors open
23:00 to 23:30 - House DJ
23:30 to 01:00 - UV Tennis tournament with music / fashion
01:00 to 02:00 - Murk Miami Classics Set
02:00 to 04:00 - Masters At Work Exclusive New York Classics Set
 
Friday, March 23rd 2007
23:00 - Doors open
23:00 to 23:30 - House DJ
23:30 to 01:00 - UV Tennis tournament with music / fashion
01:00 to 02:00 - Murk Miami Classics Set
02:00 to 04:00 - Paul Oakenfold Exclusive Classics Set
 
Night Tennis Rules of Play

• Underarm serve to cross court service box from behind service box baseline
• Ball must bounce in receiver box before being returned by receiver who must stand outside his box to receive serve
• Server cannot volley first return from receiver
• Retain serve if point won and lose serve if point lost – no second serve
• Serve from alternate server boxes if point won or lost

• Each game is played for three minutes, time displayed on a count down clock to zero
• Winner of a game is the player with the most points when the clock runs down to zero
• Game is over as soon as the clock runs down, point being played does not count
• If the number of points is equal at zero seconds, the point is stopped. The point is restarted with the same person who served serving again. Next point the winner
• Change ends only after each game – best of three games wins match
• 3 points for winner hit from Front Zone

Paul Oakenfold
Paul Oakenfold has long been one of the most important names in modern club culture. Most people are familiar with Oakenfold’s name, although many people who think they're unfamiliar with Oakenfold’s music have actually heard it quite often. His sound is featured globally on radio and TV and in commercials supporting mega brands such as Coca-Cola, Toyota and Saab; not to mention his contributions to hit films such as Swordfish (which Oakenfold scored), The Matrix Reloaded and Michael Mann’s Collateral. In fact, when Paul Oakenfold sold out the Hollywood Bowl in recent years, many viewed the event as definitive proof that dance culture had finally arrived in America.

Masters at Work
Masters at Work is the house music production and remix team of Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales and Little Louie Vega. They first worked together using the name (which had originally been loaned to a mutual friend Todd Terry in 1990. They have also produced music together under the names MAW, KenLou, River Ocean, and Nuyorican Soul.
 
Their Nuyorican Soul project sees them working extensively with real (as opposed to sampled or synthesized musicians, in a variety of styles including Latin, disco , jazz, etc. Musicians who took part in this project include Vincent Montana Jr., Roy Ayers, George Benson, Jocelyn Brown, Tito Puente, and members of the Salsoul Orchestra. The self-titled album released by Nuyorican Soul in 1996 included original tracks as well as cover versions of songs by the performers they were working with, such as "Sweet Tears" (Roy Ayers), and "Runaway," originally sung by Loleatta Holloway with the Salsoul Orchestra, here sung by India, featuring musicians from the original recording of 1977.
 
MAW have a history as remixers, having recreated tracks for various acts both inside and outside the world of dance music. Some of the artists remixed by the two producers include Madonna, Donna Summer, Jody Watley, Janet Jackson, Jamiroquai and Earth Wind & Fire.
 
Murk
Oscar G. & Ralph Falcon, aka MURK, Murk Boys, Deep South, Liberty City and Funky Green Dogs, are regarded as one of the most successful dance DJs and production teams in the world. For over thirteen years, the duo has created hundreds of original productions and remixes
 
Murk went on set a new record with five number one singles in the Billboard dance chart in one year only Madonna, Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston had previously done better. In 2004, Murk received the Best Producer award at the Dancestar USA Awards: they were also nominated for Best Single (Alright) and Best DJ (Oscar G). It is beyond any doubt that Murk has played a major role in the development of house music over the last decade

About Sony Ericsson                                                                                                             
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications serves the global communications market with innovative and feature-rich mobile phones, accessories and PC-cards. Established as a joint venture by Sony and Ericsson in 2001, with global corporate functions located in London, the company employs over 7,500 people worldwide, including R&D sites in Europe, Japan, China and America. Sony Ericsson celebrated the 5th anniversary of the start of the joint venture on 1st October, 2006. For further information on Sony Ericsson, please visit www.SonyEricsson.com

Sony Ericsson is the global title sponsor of the Women's Tennis Association, and works with the Association to promote the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in over 80 cities during the year. The Tour culminates at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid, Spain. Sony Ericsson is also the title sponsor of the Sony Ericsson Open, the leading international professional tennis tournaments outside of the four Grand Slams, a mandatory tournament on the men’s ATP Masters Series and the women’s Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. The tournament is held annually in March in Miami, Florida.