Tennis News: Sharapova to play in Sony Ericsson Championsihps in Madrid

Maria Qualifies for singles spot in Madrid November 6-11

Maria and Daniela Hantuchova have clinched the final two singles berths at the 2007 Sony Ericsson Championships, set to take place in Madrid's Recinto Ferial Casa de Campo arena, November 6-11. They join an already impressive line-up that includes Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams and Anna Chakvetadze. For Maria, this is the fourth consecutive year in her career that she has qualified for the Sony Ericsson Championships. She was former champion in 2004 and a semifinalist the last two years. "This has been a very frustrating year for me physically, but I am a big competitor and I am determined to compete at the Sony Ericsson Championships," said Maria. "The Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships this year has been thrilling, and it's a great credit to Maria and Daniela that they have secured spots for Madrid," said Dee Dutta, CVP and Global Head of Marketing at Sony Ericsson. "With so many current and future champions in the field, fans will truly be treated to the best of the best in women's tennis." "Once again we have a tremendous field. Having Maria and Daniela in Madrid is great news. I look forward to seeing them all next week. It is going to be an extraordinary week of women's tennis," said Manolo Santana, Tournament Director. The Sony Ericsson Championships is one of the richest annual women's sporting events in the world. The tournament is the season-ending punctuation to an 11-month global Tour which finally gathers the Top 8 singles players and Top 4 doubles teams from the season to battle it out for a share of the $3-million prize purse. Since its inception in 1972, the event has been held in such notable venues as Madison Square Garden, New York, the Olympiahalle in Munich, Germany and The Forum and Staples Centre in Los Angeles. Former singles champions read like a who's who of women's tennis: Tracy Austin, Kim Clijsters, Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Martina Navratilova, Gabriela Sabatini and Serena Williams. The title holders are Justine Henin (singles) and Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur (doubles.)