SAP OPEN AT HP PAVILION
World Class Tennis in San Jose

This coming February HP Pavilion will once again become the center of attention for tennis fans worldwide as the SAP Open, Northern California's premier men's professional tennis tournament, returns to San Jose. And with it will return some of the hottest tennis stars on the worldwide ATP Circuit.

At the 2008 SAP Open, to be played February 18-24, a field of 32 international singles players will compete for $52,000 of a $380,000 purse, 35 valuable circuit points and perhaps most importantly, the title of 2008 SAP Open Champion. In addition, another 16 teams will compete for the 2008 SAP Open Doubles title, which also includes a purse of $16,350 and 35 points to each winning team member.

Each year the SAP Open brings many of the world's top players to San Jose from around the world. In its 119-year history the tournament has been won by virtually every tennis superstar, including Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe, Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl, Michael Chang, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and, more recently, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick and back-to-back winner Andy Murray. Already scheduled to return in 2008 are two-time SAP Open champion Andy Roddick and Thailand's top player, Paradorn Srichaphan. The SAP Open is one of 70 tournaments in 32 countries on the worldwide ATP circuit.

Bay Area tennis fans who attended the 2007 SAP Open Finals got a glimpse into the future of the worldwide ATP circuit, with two Murray's capturing SAP Open tennis titles. Scottish tennis sensation Andy Murray smothered his 6-foot-10 competition, Ivo Karlovic from Croatia, in the singles final to defend his title and delight the crowd of more than 7,334.

"He has the best serve in tennis. There's no question," Murray said. "Guys can serve harder or more accurately but you just don't see a serve coming from that angle. He can hit spots in the court that guys can't even see. It's physically impossible for other guys to hit those spots."

Both of Murray's career titles have come in San Jose, where he also beat Lleyton Hewitt in a third-set tiebreaker a year ago. He also won a challenger event in nearby Aptos in 2005. Murray became the fourth player to defend his first career title, joining Mario Ancic (Hertogenbosch), Richard Gasquet (Nottingham) and Paradorn Srichaphan (Long Island). Murray, ranked 14th in the world, was off to a fast start in 2007, finishing as runner-up in Doha and making the fourth round of the Australian Open before losing to Rafael Nadal.

And in doubles action, this proved to be a big day in the Murray family. Andy's older brother, Jamie, teamed with American Eric Butorac to beat Chris Haggard and Rainer Schuettler 7-5, 7-6 (8) in the doubles final. The Murrays became the first brothers to win the singles and doubles titles at the same event since Emilio and Javier Sanchez at Kitzbuhel in 1989.

The 2008 SAP Open will be played February 18-24, at HP Pavilion at San Jose. For information about ticket packages and group tickets call (408) ACE-2121 or visit www.sapopentennis.com.