Former BNP Paribas Open Champions With a Total of 44 Grand Slam Singles Titles Will "Hit For Haiti" To Raise An Expected Minimum of $1 Million

© Getty Images

Event Will Feature Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal; American Red Cross Haitian Relief Efforts to Benefit

The BNP Paribas Open, the most attended tennis tournament in the world outside of the four major events, to be held March 8-21, 2010, will hold a “Hit For Haiti” exhibition on the evening of Friday, March 12, that will feature former BNP Paribas Open champions with a combined total of 44 Grand Slam singles titles, and is expected to raise a minimum of $1 Million for Haiti relief efforts, it was announced today by Steve Simon, tournament director.

Larry Ellison, who recently purchased the tournament, decided to coordinate a second Hit for Haiti exhibition after seeing the success it had at the Australian Open, where hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised for Haiti relief efforts. The event will feature 44 Grand Slam titles on the same court with Roger Federer and Pete Sampras playing Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi. The event will be broadcast live on the Tennis Channel beginning at 7:30 PM PST.

The net proceeds from ticket sales to this session will be donated to the American Red Cross for their relief efforts in Haiti. Fans will also be able to donate to the relief effort through text messages and on-site contributions throughout the evening and event. In addition to these fund-raising efforts, Ellison will make a personal donation to this very special cause.

“When I saw the first Hit for Haiti event in Australia, I was very moved by the players coming together, on the eve of an important tournament, for such a worthy cause,” said Ellison. “I wanted to bring together an exceptional group of players, with an unprecedented amount of Grand Slam titles, at the BNP Paribas Open. Our goal is to leave a memorable impression on fans, while raising a substantial amount of money that will directly impact the needs of people in Haiti.”

In addition to the exhibition, the evening will begin at 7:00 p.m. with the annual Salute to Heroes ceremony, where the tournament will recognize veterans, military personnel, police, firemen and women, and Red Cross volunteers on Stadium Court for their efforts in the community and around the world. The ceremony and tennis exhibition will be followed by one main draw match.

For more information about the BNP Paribas Open, or to purchase tickets and travel packages, visit www.bnpparibasopen.org, call 800-999-1585 or 760-200-8000, or visit the box office, 78-200 Miles Avenue, Indian Wells, CA, 92210.

About the BNP Paribas Open
The BNP Paribas Open is held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and is the largest combined ATP World Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event in the world. The event will be celebrating its 35th anniversary March 8 – 21, 2010, with defending champions Rafael Nadal and Vera Zvonareva and more than 300 of the best men’s and women’s tennis players in the world. To purchase tickets visit www.bnpparibasopen.org, call 800-999-1585 or 760-200-8000, or visit the Indian Wells Tennis Garden box office, 78-200 Miles Avenue, Indian Wells, CA 92210.

About BNP Paribas BNP Paribas(www.bnpparibas.com)
is a European leader in global banking and financial services and is one of the 3 strongest banks in the world according to Standard & Poor’s. The group is present in 85 countries, with more than 171,000 employees, including 131.000 in Europe. The group holds key positions in three major segments: Corporate and Investment Banking, Asset Management & Services and Retail Banking. Present throughout Europe in all of its business lines, the bank’s two domestic markets in retail banking are France and Italy. BNP Paribas also has a significant presence in the United States and strong positions in Asia and the emerging markets.

About BNP Paribas and tennis
In 2008, BNP Paribas celebrated the 35th anniversary of its association with the tennis world. Since 1973, BNP Paribas has been actively involved in this sport, regularly increasing its support – both locally and internationally, for families, schools and the community.

Historically, BNP Paribas has had a special relationship with every facet of the tennis world: official global sponsor of Roland Garros for 35 years, sponsor of the Davis Cup since 2001, of the Fed Cup since 2005 and since the acquisition of BNL in 2006, the "Internazionali BNL d'Italia", as well as actively supporting numerous other international competitions (WTA Bank of the West Classic in California, the Monte Carlo Masters Series, BNP Paribas Strasbourg Women's Open, Grand Prix de Lyon, etc.). BNP Paribas also supports tennis locally in France, and is involved in more than 550 tournaments, including the BNP Paribas family trophy, various training programmes set up by the French Tennis Federation and Yannick Noah’s “Fête le Mur” association.