CHENNAI -Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited (MHRIL), India’s leading leisure hospitality provider, announced its commitment to sponsor India’s budding tennis star – Yuki Bhambri. As per the arrangement, MHRIL will sponsor Yuki for a period of five years.

Mr. Ramesh Ramanathan, Managing Director, MHRIL, said, “Our brand experiences and Holiday services revolve around delighting the family. To the world Yuki is World’s No. 1 Junior player; to us he represents the children in families who are one of the biggest beneficiaries of the holiday experiences that we create. We believe that he has the potential to dominate the Pro circuit, too. We are proud to be the first Indian corporate to have come forward to sponsor him in his journey forward.”

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LONDON (Reuters) – The WTA said a new, reduced sponsorship agreement with Sony Ericsson in which the mobile handset maker loses its naming rights to the women’s tennis Tour would give the governing body greater flexibility to grow.

The Women’s Tennis Association and Sony Ericsson gave no financial details of the contract announced on Monday which extends their agreement to the end of 2012.

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The ITF announced today that HP, the world’s largest technology company, has become an international sponsor of its premier team competition, Davis Cup by BNP Paribas.

The four-year agreement, which sees HP become the Official Technology Sponsor of Davis Cup, begins this week with the opening round of the 2010 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas. A total of eight World Group ties and 26 Zone Group ties will be played on 5-7 March in 34 nations worldwide. One hundred and thirty-three nations have entered the 2010 competition and approximately 60 nations will host ties during the year.

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Lagardère Unlimited announced they have signed ATP World Tour Singles Player Somdev Devarrman of India who is currently ranked #141 in the world. Devarrman, who attended the University of  Virginia from 2005-2008, was the back-to-back NCAA Division I Singles Champion in 2007 (defeating University of Georgia’s John Isner) and 2008 (defeating University of Tennessee’s J.P. Smith) receiving All-American Honors both seasons. Devarrman turned pro in the summer of 2008, and will be represented by Lagardere Unlimited President, Ken Meyerson, and Client Manager, Kevin Obletz.

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MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Lingering effects from the global financial crisis have hurt big-ticket corporate sales at the Australian Open but organisers expect record crowds to boost year on year revenues for the annual tournament.

Corporate sales, which include hospitality bookings for companies seeking to entertain clients and partners, were down about 10 percent on the previous year, Tennis Australia commercial director Steve Ayles told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

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MELBOURNE (Reuters) – The Australian Open is about to undergo a major facelift as part of a long-term agreement to keep the grand slam at its current site.

Work on the first stage of the A$363 million (US$336 million) redevelopment will begin in April and is expected to be finished in time for the 2015 championship.

The plans include increasing the seating capacity on the showcourts, building a roof over the Margaret Court Arena, a massive undercover courtyard for spectators and improving player and media facilities.

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Larry Ellison, chief executive of software company Oracle, is the new owner of the Indian Wells tennis tournament and the venue itself.

Ellison’s Tennis Ventures LLC purchased the entire assets from the previous ownership group, the businessman said in a statement on Tuesday.

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LONDON (Reuters) – Sony Ericsson’s relationship with the WTA Tour remained positive despite Serena Williams’s foul-mouthed outburst at the U.S. Open in September, the tour sponsors have said.

The 28-year-old American was put on probation for two years and handed a record fine after an expletive-laden outburst at a lineswoman in New York culminating in a penalty point that handed victory to Kim Clijsters in their semi-final.

“Any sport is competitive and incidents happen with players in any sport,” Calum MacDougall, the company’s director of global marketing partnerships, told Reuters.

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LONDON (Reuters) – Serbian world number three Novak Djokovic announced he had signed a clothing deal with Sergio Tacchini that will start in January, ending a long association with German firm Adidas.

“I am pleased to partner with Sergio Tacchini, a strong brand with a true tennis DNA and am honoured to become a part of this legacy,” the 22-year-old told reporters on Saturday on the eve of the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

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LONDON (Reuters) – Next week’s ATP World Tour finals at London’s O2 Centre will be the biggest indoor tennis event ever staged, organisers said on Tuesday.

World number one Roger Federer heads the cast of the top eight singles players and eight doubles pairs who have qualified for the lucrative year-ending tournament that begins a five-year stay on the banks of the River Thames in Greenwich.

On the eve of Wednesday’s draw which will be performed inside a pod of the London Eye — the largest Ferris wheel in Europe — more than 250,000 seats had been sold for the round-robin tournament which begins on Sunday.

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