Miami Royale

Celebrating a sport with courtly roots, the Sony Ericsson Open definitely aims at the monied class

By Ben Torter

Rafael Nadal at the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open. Photo by George L. Barreiro

The widespread popularity of tennis across all class levels is readily apparent wandering the grounds of the Tennis Center at Crandon Park during the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open. But the game’s royal origins are still evident.

Long before you make it to center court, it is obvious that this tournament attracts society’s top tiers. Polished Ferraris, Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Rolls-Royces and higher-end Porsches shine in the VIP parking area near the main stadium. Tournament sponsors like the Stanford Financial Group, Mercedes-Benz, PricewaterhouseCoopers, The Luxury Collection, Bombay Sapphire and The Ladders — the executive search firm which advertises “$100,000 plus jobs for $100,000 plus people” — offer products and services for the world’s upper echelons.

The grounds of the tennis center become a veritable tennis city during the 12 days of the Sony Ericsson. Tents packed with food, fashion and the trappings of the good life are interspersed among the dozen tournament and six practice courts. Some are open to all, others only to those holding the right ID badges.

One particularly luxurious tent, the Mercedes-Benz Lifestyle Center, displays some of the carmaker’s more exclusive vehicles, like the half-million-dollar SLR McLaren Roadster. Just across the way is a white runway showing fashion lines, such as EleVen by Venus Williams and Fila’s latest collections.

Beautiful people sip martinis to hip beats in the Bombay Sapphire Lounge. Others get recharged at Starbucks, or have a little bite to eat in a park-like area complete with picnic tables and colorful, ubiquitous Romero Britto pieces.

Even in Miami, a place rarely noted for its manners, the rules of conduct at the Sony Ericsson Open are right out of Emily Post: Show up on time to center court matches or be penalized; movement in and out of the stands is only allowed at certain times once games start. A courtly, haute crowd sits silently during match play and waits until the moments between points to call out careful comments. There are no hawkers pitching cold beer and peanuts.

During a March 29 match that saw Andy Roddick nearly beaten by Serbian Viktor Troicki, polite female voices encouraged the favored American heartthrob with calls of “Come on Andy!” and “Go Andy!”  Interspersed were intense whispers like, “Ooooooh, so much topspin.”

During the match, sun-bronzed ball girls dressed in red tennis dresses ran around the court fetching fuzzy yellow balls and white towels to wipe the sweat from athletic brows. When the players sat between games, ball boys held purple and white umbrellas over them to block the sun.

Besides the spectacle of celebrity coddling, the Sony Ericsson Open is a great place to spot celebrities, including players like Roger Federer and Roddick (who got engaged last week to Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker), Lindsay Davenport, the Williams sisters and last year’s winner, Novak Djokovic. This year there have been sightings of Owen Wilson, Paulina Rubio, Boyd Tinsley of the Dave Matthews Band, race car driver Christian Fittipaldi and rapper Common, to name a few.

The players are vying for $7.54 million in prize money, split equally between the men and women. The Sony Ericsson Open draws the world’s top-ranked players: 95 men and 96 women in singles competition, and 32 men’s and 32 women’s doubles teams.

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications took over as title sponsor in August of 2006. Founded in Delray Beach in 1985, the tournament moved to Key Biscayne in 1987. It has gone through a series of names, including the Lipton International Players Championship and the Nasdaq-100 Open.

For information on remaining tickets for the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open, call 305-442-3367 or e-mail at tickets@imgworld.com.

Comments? E-mail ben@miamisunpost.com