Home Depot Center News

Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams Highlight Early Entries for the 2007 Los Angeles Ultimate Tennis Celebration Presented by Herbalife

Champions of Two Most Recent Grand Slams Commmitted to Annual Sony Ericcson WTA Tour Event to be Held August 6th - 12th at The Home Depot Center

CARSON, CA (June 5, 2007) - Maria Sharapova, the 2006 U.S. Open champion and the current No. 2 ranked player in the world and Serena Williams, the 2007 Australian Open champion and current No. 8 ranked player lead the list of elite players entered to participate in southern California's most prestigious summer tennis tradition, the 2007 Los Angeles Ultimate Tennis Celebration presented by Herbalife on the hard courts of The Home Depot Center on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson.

Joining Sharapova and Serena Williams in the 56 player field will be Nicole Vaidisova and Dinara Safina (currently ranked 10th and 11th in the world) and Nadia Petrova (ranked #12). This year will mark the 38th year of the popular southern California stop on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour which has hosted a who's who of number one ranked players and competitors who have gone on to win the U.S. Open in New York just weeks later.

\"The 2007 Los Angeles Ultimate Tennis Celebration presented by Herbalife will once again, showcase a world-class field of champions featuring the world's most popular players,\" said Shawn Hunter, President, AEG Sports. \"Beginning with Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, the current U.S. Open and Australian Open Champions, we have received commitments from five of the world's top twelve players. Southern California tennis fans can once again look forward to seeing the best players in the world competing for not only this prestigious tournament's championship, but important U.S. Open Series points as well.\"

\"As part of the 'Ultimate Tennis Celebration,' our fans will also be treated to a week of exciting tennis promotions, offers and special events including our now traditional spectacular fireworks display on Saturday night, and popular tennis-related giveaways for children and adults,\" Hunter added.

The 2007 Los Angeles Ultimate Tennis Celebration Presented by Herbalife offers a variety of ticket packages. All session ticket packages, including all 12 sessions of play, start at just $235.00. In addition, weekend packages which include a total of five sessions played on Friday (two sessions), Saturday (two sessions) and the finals on Sunday start at only $125.00. Tennis fans purchasing these packages can save up to $731.00 off the regular price of individual tickets! For more information on all ticket packages, call 1-877-AEG-TICKETS (1-877-234-8425) or visit: http://www.ultimatetenniscelebration.com. Individual tickets will go on sale on June 24th through Ticketmaster outlets.

Maria Sharapova is currently ranked No. 2 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. She has captured 15 singles titles including the 2006 U.S. Open and has compiled a 12-4 record in singles matches this year.

Serena Williams, an eight-time Grand Slam champion, is coming back after a lengthy injury last season. The former No.1 ranked player on the women's tour has 26 career singles titles, including the first two tournaments she has entered in 2007, the Australian Open in January and the Sony Ericsson Open in March. Starting off the year with these notable victories brings her lifetime record in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles finals to an impressive 28-10. Serena Williams and her sister Venus were both raised in Compton, CA, just a few miles from The Home Depot Center in Carson.

Diana Safina has had and excellent start in 2007, winning her fifth career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title at Gold Coast by defeating top seeded Martina Hingis in the final. She is currently ranked No. 9 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and has continued to improve after the best season to date in 2006, highlighted by her first two Grand Slam Quarterfinals and making her debut in the Top 10 rankings.

Nicole Vaidisova had a breakout season on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in 2006 highlighted by her first Grand Slam Semi Finals and cracking the top 10 along with winning her sixth career Tour singles title. She is hails from Prague, Czech Republic and is currently ranked No. 9 in the world.

Nadia Petrova enters the week ranked No.12 overall on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. In 2006, she had an exceptional start and finish to her career-best season; highlighted by five Tour singles titles and breaking into the Top 3 rankings. She started off the 2007 on the right foot with her first Tour singles title of year and seventh of her career at Paris in February.

The Los Angeles Ultimate Tennis Celebration Presented by Herbalife is also a part of the prestigious US Open Series, which links 10 summer hard-court tournaments to the famed US Open. This year's Los Angeles Ultimate Tennis Celebration Presented by Herbalife marks the fourth year players competing in the US Open Series tournaments will be vying for bonus prize money at the US Open. Players competing in the \"summer season\" of tennis at the participating Sony Ericsson WTA tournaments will receive US Open Series points which will ultimately earn the series winner the opportunity to double her US Open prize purse.

About the Los Angeles Ultimate Tennis Celebration Presented by Herbalife The Los Angeles Ultimate Tennis Celebration Presented by Herbalife, at 38 years old one of the most historic events in women's tennis, is being held for the fourth consecutive year at The Home Depot Center. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Tier II event offers prize money of $600,000 to the 56-player singles and 16-team doubles draws. The distinguished tournament champions' list includes Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King, all of whom have also been ranked number one on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour during their careers. For more information please visit: http://www.ultimatetenniscelebration.com.

About The Home Depot Center

The Home Depot Center is southern California's home of world-class competition and training facilities for amateur, Olympic, collegiate and professional athletes. The $150 million, privately financed facility was developed and is operated by AEG on a 125-acre site on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) in Carson, California. The Home Depot Center features an 8,000-seat tennis stadium, a 27,000-seat stadium for soccer, rugby and other athletic competitions and outdoor concerts, a 10,000-seat facility for track & field and lacrosse, the ADT Event Center (a 2,450-seat indoor velodrome for cycling) and other facilities for softball, baseball, beach volleyball, basketball and other sports. The Home Depot Center is home to three professional sports teams - Major League Soccer's 2005 MLS and U.S. Open Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy; Club Deportivo (CD) Chivas USA; and Major League Lacrosse's (MLL) Los Angeles Riptide. Named an Official U.S. Olympic Training Site, The Home Depot Center is also home of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) USA Tennis High Performance Training Center and is the national team training headquarters for the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF). The David Beckham Academy for youth soccer, Andre Agassi's Safe Passage All-Stars at-risk youth tennis program and Athletes' Performance's training center for elite and professional athletes are all based at The Home Depot Center. The Home Depot Center has additionally been designated official training sites for USA Cycling and USA Track & Field. For more information, please visit www.homedepotcenter.com.

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Contacts:

Michael Roth or
Cara Vanderhook
AEG Communications
(213) 742-7155

Alison Groendal
The Home Depot Center Communications
(310) 630-2032