The Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., is the biggest, most prestigious tennis tournament in the United States next to the US Open. Its history dates back to 1985 and is documented in pages in my book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com). The following are events that happened in the history of the tournament – also previously called the Lipton Championships, the NASDAQ-100 Open and the Ericsson Open – as excerpted from the book from March 31.
2001 – In one of the most gripping finals in the history of the WTA Tour, Venus Williams fights off eight match points to win her 16th title of her career at the Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., defeating Jennifer Capriati 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4). Williams clinches the match on her fourth match point to win her 18th consecutive match at the tournament.
2002 – Thirty-one-year-old Andre Agassi wins his 700th career match, defeating 20-year-old Roger Federer 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the final of the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne. Says Agassi, “I think as you get older, you have a greater capacity to appreciate everything. Those moments are not promised. Who knows if it will ever happen again? The older I get, the more I keep that in perspective.”
2007 – Serena Williams stages an incredible comeback and fights off two championship points in the second set to defeat Justine Henin 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. Says Williams, the reigning Australian Open champion, who nine months earlier languishes at No. 140 in the WTA rankings, “When I get down, a part of me just plays better. I think all champions have that.” Says Henin of Williams, “She’s a fighter. It’s tough to close the matches against her, because she goes for it. She’s a champion, and that makes a difference from the other players, for sure.”
1996 – Goran Ivanisevic is stricken with a sore neck which forces him to quit trailing Andre Agassi 0-3, 0-40 after only 10 minutes of play in the men’s singles final at the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla.
2008 – Mikhail Youzhny of Russia gains more exposure and international attention for an strange outburst of anger in the third round match at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., than he does in coming back from two-sets-to love to clinch the Davis Cup title for Russia in 2002. Trailing Nicolas Almagro 4-5 in the third set of their third-round match, the No. 11-ranked Youzhny bangs his head three times with his racquet strings, causing him to bleed down the front of his face. The video becomes a viral video sensation on the internet, registering 500,000 hits on YouTube within 24 hours. Youzhny wins the match 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (6).