Raymond and Stosur Win Second Straight Title With Sony Ericsson Championship
Prince Dominates Finals with Three of Four Players Using O3 Racquets
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Zach Perles
One Advantage Court
Bordentown,
609-291-5932
zperles@princesports.com
04/02/07 - Bordentown, NJ – The four top women’s doubles players in the world took to stadium court in Key Biscayne on Sunday in hopes of being crowned 2007 Sony Ericsson Open champions. Three of the four had Prince O3 racquets in their hands. In the end, Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur captured their second consecutive WTA Tour title with a 6-4, 3-6, 10-2 victory over fellow Prince team member Liezel Huber and her partner, Cara Black. The win solidifies Raymond and Stosur’s position as the top women’s doubles team in the world, while Black and Huber remain in the hunt at the #2 spot. With the victory, Raymond and Stosur avenge their loss to Huber and Black in this year’s Australian Open finals and record their 17th career doubles title.
Lisa Raymond, who has been a mainstay on Team Prince since she was a junior player, is the most recent of the three to take advantage of O3 technology having picked up the Hybrid Tour prior to the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells. Since the switch, Raymond’s doubles record has been perfect. She has won ten straight matches with the new racquet and two consecutive Tier I events.
“Obviously I am very happy with the results Sam and I have had since I picked up the O3 Hybrid Tour,” said Raymond. “My serve has definitely improved, which I know my partner appreciates! Liezel and Cara are tough competitors who make us have to raise our level of play in order to win. We are just hopeful that there will be opportunities to win more titles in the future.”
Like Raymond, American up-and-comer Sam Querrey too recently made the switch to the O3 Hybrid Tour picking it up just prior to his appearance in Miami.
Stosur, who is also ranked #27 in the world in singles, joins other tour players such as Maria Sharapova and Daniela Hantuchova in choosing the O3 White as her racquet of choice. Huber who plays the O3 Tour is a two time Grand Slam champion having won a Wimbledon doubles title with Black in 2005, and an Australian Open doubles title earlier this year.
“These are the two best doubles teams in the world and we are very proud of Lisa, Sam and Liezel for all of their on-court accomplishments,” said Linda Glassel, VP of Marketing at Prince. “We are excited, but not surprised, that more and more players are making the switch to O3 technology in order to compete at the highest level and take home titles.”
Since its introduction, O3 racquets have helped players capture 167 ATP and WTA tour events including six Grand Slam titles. There are now over 80 touring pros who use the patented, revolutionary technology that transformed traditional pin sized string holes into giant O-ports.
About Prince Sports
Prince Sports, Inc., based in New Jersey, is a recognized leader in game-improvement technologies and engineering-based high-performance sports equipment. Since 1970, Prince and Ektelon have revolutionized tennis, squash and racquetball with innovations including “Oversize,” “Longbody” and “Extender” racquet technologies, Natural Foot Shape footwear technology, Synthetic Gut String and Electronic Ball Machines. Prince gives players speed, stability and a larger sweet spot with O3 racquet technology, building the brand with O3 Original Series (2005), O3 Hybrid (2006) and O3 Speedport (2007). In 2006, Prince introduced M Series footwear with Precision Tube Technology, an innovation that gives players maximum cushioning, stability and ventilation. Prince Sports has operations on three continents and distribution in over 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.princetennis.com.
