February 21, 2006

Sunrise, FL -The official player acceptance list is out for the BMW Tennis Championship with a ranking cutoff of 80. “This draw is incredible and stronger than many ATP tour events this year,” notes Tournament Director Gabe Norona. “Every year we’re getting more and more top players, who are using it as the unofficial warm-up event for the Nasdaq-100.” The Nasdaq-100 Open, a Masters Series event in Key Biscayne, is the most important tournament outside the slams – and immediately follows the BMW Tennis Championship.

Top ranked on the list is #19 Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia. In last year’s tournament, Hrbaty was taken out in the second round by finalist #42 Davide Sanguinetti of Italy – who is also signed up to play at this year’s event. Hrbaty, holder of six career ATP singles titles, was a semifinalist at Adelaide, Australia this year; and reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open. Last year, Hrbaty led his country to its first Davis Cup final with a 6-1 singles record. He has played in 36 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments since his appearance at the 1997 Australian, the longest active streak on the ATP circuit going into 2006.

Also in the main draw is 18-year-old Scottish sensation #47 Andy Murray, who stunned top seed Andy Roddick last month in the SAP Open semi-finals in San Jose – and followed that by upsetting Lleyton Hewitt in the final. Murray climbed 449 ranking spots in a single year, 2004-05 – becoming the second-youngest player to reach the year-end Top 100. Murray also made headlines by getting to the third round at last year’s Wimbledon. #35 Jose Acasuso of Argentina advanced to a Grand Slam-best 4th round at Roland Garros in 2005, and this year won the Vina Del Mar in Chile. At last year’s BMW Championship – Acasuso reached the semi-final doubles with partner #67 Luis Horna – who is also entered this year. Veteran Frenchman #36 Fabrice Santoro broke through to his first slam quarter-final at the Australian Open in ’06 and finished in the top 100 for the 11th time in 13 years. Frenchman #48 Arnaud Clement won Marseille last week, defeating Santoro and #2 Rafael Nadal, followed by a win over red-hot Croatian Mario Ancic in the final.

Other players entered this year are #39 Victor Hanescu of Romania; and #50 Dmitry Tursunov of Russia. Rounding out the main draw are #53 Andreas Seppi; #60 Florian Mayer; #61 Ivo Karlovic; #62 Tomas Zib; #68 Alberto Martin; #69 Weslie Moodie; #71 Vincent Spadea; #72 Novak Djokovic; #73 Paul Goldstein; #74 Robin Vik; #75 Lukas Dlouhy; #76 Daniele Bracciali; #78 Carlos Berlocq; #79 Bjorn Phau; and #80 Andrei Pavel.

The alternates list is peppered with top names, including perennial favorite Mark Philippoussis, Rainer Schuettler, Nicolas Lapentti, Gilles Simon, Jan Hernych, Robin Soderling, Justin Gimelstob, Bobby Reynolds, Kenneth Carlsen, Ramon Delgado, Stefan Koubek, Younes El Aynaoui; Joachim Johansson, and Jan-Michael Gambill.

Four wild cards are still available – which could be awarded to players eliminated in the first 4 days of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California – a Masters tournament which begins 4 days earlier than the BMW Tennis Championship. Australian Mark Philippoussis, with 10 career titles – and who reached the doubles final in last year’s tournament – is a strong favorite for one of those spots.

For tournament news and ticket information, go to www.sunrisetennis.com. Tickets can be bought online, or by calling the toll free number (877) 877-7677.

Gabe Norona, Tournament Director
(954) 328-2283
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