The BMW Tennis Championship will be held March 16-23 at the Sunrise Tennis Club in Sunrise, FL.

Glenn Ersly, BMW Market Operations Manager for the Select South Florida BMW Dealers (Lauderdale BMW in Ft. Lauderdale and Pembroke Pines, Vista BMW in Pompano Beach and Coconut Creek and South BMW) explained, “South Florida has embraced men’s professional tennis, and from a marketing standpoint these tennis fans are 100% attuned to our line of products. We will be providing an entire fleet of vehicles available for test drive as part of sponsorship including the new X5 4.8 and BMW’s flagship, the 7 series.”

Tournament Director Gabe Norona indicated the tournament has become a player favorite. “We will always attract a strong field due to our prime date between the Pacific Life Open held in Indian Wells and the Sony-Ericsson Open in Miami. Last year's draw included 8 out of the top 50 players in the world, including our winner, Frenchman Gael Monfils, our 2006 winner, Russian Dmitry Tursunov, Croat Ivo Karlovic, currently ranked 24, and Argentine Juan Monaco, currently ranked 23, both who were winners of 3 ATP titles in 2007. We also had two young up and comers, local favorite American Jesse Levine and Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro, who reached the round of 16 at the 2007 Sony Ericsson.”

For 2008, the BMW Tennis Championship will again draw a remarkable roster of world-class players. The tournament can recruit top 50 players and offer wildcards to top ten players ensuring an impressive and competitive field. Players see the hard-court tournament as a warm-up event for the Sony-Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, which is the sport’s most important tournament outside of the Grand Slams.

The tournament’s home, the Sunrise Tennis Club, is the premier facility in South Florida. The Sunrise Tennis Club is located at 9605 West Oakland Park Boulevard, Sunrise.