2009 Sony Ericsson Open

Novak Djokovic was the runner-up at the tournament.

All the seeded players received a bye into the second round. Wildcards Marcos Baghdatis and Lleyton Hewitt were among the players progressing into the second round, while Germans Philipp Kohlschreiber and former World no. 2 Tommy Haas were the major upsets.[19] Most seeded players continued their progress into the third round with eighth seed Fernando Verdasco winning his 200th ATP tour match in his career. Ivo Karlović and David Nalbandian were among the seeded players defeated in second round. Lucky loser Björn Phau was promoted into the third round after his opponent Albert Montañés suffered a hamstring injury during the second set of the match and was forced to withdraw.[20][21] Frenchman Gaël Monfils took a hard-fought win over 22nd seed and former world number 1 Marat Safin in a third round match played for nearly three hours. Qualifier Taylor Dent continued his successful run by defeating Tommy Robredo in the third round. Czechs Tomáš Berdych and Radek Štěpánek overcame higher seeded players James Blake and Fernando González en route to the fourth round.[22][23][24]

Top seed Rafael Nadal faced an uphill battle against Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round match, facing a tiebreak in each set and eventually defeating him. Second seed Roger Federer defeated Dent in the fourth round to set up a quarterfinal match with longtime rival Andy Roddick, who overcame Gaël Monfils in a two-set match. Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martín del Potro, Verdasco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made it into the quarterfinals.[25][26][27] Del Potro defeated Nadal in the three-set quarterfinal match to reach the first ATP Masters semifinal of his career. Del Potro took the final set on a tiebreak after losing the second set. Murray faced Verdasco in the second quarterfinal in a rematch of 2009 Australian Open fourth round. Verdasco suffered an injury in the second game of the match and had to be seen by his physio. He was not in good enough shape to compete with Murray and eventually lost.[28][29] Federer defeated Roddick while Djokovic moved past Tsonga to advance to the semifinals.[30][31] Djokovic rallied back to defeat Federer in the first semifinal after losing the first set. The third seed however kept his consistency in the next two sets and won them.[32] Murray edged past del Potro in the second semifinal to enter his second straight Masters final. Murray faltered in the second set of the match conceding two service breaks. However he recovered in the final set, gaining an early break of serve, to win the match.[33][34]

Djokovic and Murray appeared in their seventh and fourth Masters final and 19th and 17th career finals respectively. Djokovic led the head-to-head tally against Murray, but Murray had won the last two encounters between them.[35] In the match, Murray moved into a 4–0 lead in the first set. Djokovic improved his serve from that point but lost the set. A role reversal in the second set saw Djokovic move into a 4–1 lead. Murray fought back, however, to level the score to 5–5 and won the set to secure the victory. This was Murray's third title win of the season and eleventh of his career. It was also his third Masters win of the career. Murray credited his improved fitness for his win. Djokovic, who had struggled with excessive heat in the past, struggled once again to assimilate with the temperature. He admitted that he was impatient early in the match, which resulted in him making too many unforced errors.[36]

Final score

Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic, 6–2, 7–5.

Victoria Azarenka won the third title of her career.

All the seeded players received a bye into the second round. Seven seeded players were ousted from the second round including third seed Jelena Janković, who was defeated by Gisela Dulko, and eighth seed Marion Bartoli, who lost to qualifier Anastasiya Yakimova.[37][38][39] Second seed Dinara Safina, Vera Zvonareva and Ana Ivanovic were among the nine seeded players who were eliminated in the third round.[24][40] Three times former champion and fifth seed Venus Williams faced stiff competition from Agnieszka Radwańska in fourth round. Williams lost the first set but prevailed in later sets to win the match. Li Na and Ekaterina Makarova also fought hard for a place in the quarterfinals, with Li coming out strong in the three set match, winning.[41]

Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Caroline Wozniacki in the first of the quarterfinals. Kuznetsova looked good to win the match in straight sets after building a big lead, however Wozniacki fought back to win the second set on a tiebreak. Kuznetsova ultimately won. Victoria Azarenka defeated Samantha Stosur in the second quarterfinal.[27][42] Williams sisters Serena and Venus set up the second semifinal after defeating Li Na and Iveta Benešová respectively.[43][44] The Williams sisters had met 19 times before their semifinal meeting, Venus leading the head-to-head tally 10–9. Serena won this time in a closely fought match. Azarenka came on top in the second semifinal defeating Kuznetsova.[45][46]

Serena and Azarenka met in their careers' 46th and seventh career finals respectively, with Serena appearing in her third consecutive final at the event, having won on the last two occasions. Azarenka dominated the final match, as Serena was playing while nursing a leg injury. Azarenka won the match, securing third title of her career. Azarenka stated that she was very nervous in the final game of the match and described her win as "the biggest moment in [her] career". Serena mentioned that it was difficult for her to move to the left, but she still played with maximum effort.[47][48]

Final score

Victoria Azarenka defeated Serena Williams, 6–3, 6–1.

Four seeded teams were eliminated in the first round of the event. Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić were the highest ranked team to lose, falling to Nicolás Almagro and David Ferrer, along with third seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles, who lost to French duo Julien Benneteau and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Bennetau and Tsonga continued their progress into the third round defeating Rik de Voest and Bobby Reynolds. They were joined by Julian Knowle and Jürgen Melzer, who triumphed over Almagro and Ferrer. Only two seeded teams, those of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan and of Bruno Soares and Kevin Ullyett, made it into the quarterfinals, and faced each other in that round. The Bryan brothers, who were the defending champions, overcame Soares and Ullyett in a two-set match. Ashley Fisher and Stephen Huss, Knowle and Melzer and Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram were the other teams who made it into the semifinals.

The Bryan brothers faced Fisher and Huss in the first semifinal and lost, ending their streak of winning 13 consecutive matches. Mirnyi and Ram encountered much harder competition against Knowle and Melzer and saved five match points before winning. In the final, there were no service breaks in the first set, with Fisher and Huss winning it in the tiebreak. Mirnyi and Ram came back strong to win the second set. The match-tiebreak decided the outcome of the final, with Mirnyi and Ram winning the tiebreak and the match. It was Mirnyi's 36th and Ram's 16th men's doubles title of the career and their second title as a team.[49]

Final score

Max Mirnyi / Andy Ram defeated Ashley Fisher / Stephen Huss, 6–7^(4–7), 6–2, [10–7].

Svetlana Kuznetsova, along with Amélie Mauresmo, won the women's doubles event.

Daniela Hantuchová and Ai Sugiyama, who lost to wildcard entrants Petra Martić and Coco Vandeweghe, were the only seeded pair to drop out in the first round.[18] Another wildcard team of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amélie Mauresmo defeated the top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the second round. Eighth seeds Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta were also eliminated in second round, losing to Chuang Chia-jung and Sania Mirza.[50] Chuang and Mirza continued their march into the semifinal defeating second seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual. They were joined by Kuznetsova and Mauresmo, Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Patty Schnyder, and Květa Peschke and Lisa Raymond, the only seeded team left in the draw.[51]

Kuznetsova and Mauresmo defeated Grönefeld and Schnyder to enter their third final as a team. Peschke and Raymond overcame Chuang and Mirza to secure the second spot in the final.[52] Kuznetsova and Mauresmo continued their winning streak in the final, defeating Peschke and Raymond. The title was Kuznetsova's 14th, Mauresmo's third and their second as a team.[53]

Final score

Svetlana Kuznetsova / Amélie Mauresmo defeated Květa Peschke / Lisa Raymond, 4–6, 6–3, [10–3].

The tournament was broadcast on television channels worldwide. The British television station Sky Sports held rights to broadcast the tournament from the first round through to the final. Both the men's and women's finals were shown on CBS in the United States. The tournament also had around 44 hours of live coverage in the United States. The tournament was broadcast for more than 2000 hours and seen by over 153 million people worldwide.[54][55]

According to the event organisers, 293,228 people attended the 22 sessions across the 12 days of the tournament.[55] This was the second highest attendance in the tournament's history and four sessions were sellouts.