Auditions scheduled for July 12 & 14 at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad

Carlsbad, Calif. (July 6, 2010) ­– The Mercury Insurance Open Presented by Tri-City Medical Center has issued a casting call for singers to perform the National Anthem during the women’s professional tennis tournament, which is scheduled for July 31-Aug. 8 at the La Costa Resort and Spa.

Auditions, in which individual singers will be judged on their performance of the National Anthem, will take place on Monday, July 12 from 10 a.m. to Noon (PT) and on Wednesday, July 14 from 2 to 5 p.m. (PT) at the La Costa Resort & Spa, 2100 Costa Del Mar Road, Carlsbad.

“This is a unique and exciting opportunity for local talent to be involved with an event like the Mercury Insurance Open,” said Justine Perl, Tournament Promotions Coordinator. “We have multiple opportunities during the tournament when the National Anthem will be performed on Stadium Court, so we will select the best performers from the auditions.”

The auditions are open to those ages 12 and above. Anyone interested in singing at one of the scheduled auditions, must RSVP to Perl at (760) 930-7031 or perlj-10@sandiego.edu.

“Having the National Anthem sung on Stadium Court before the matches has always been a tradition here at La Costa,” said Raquel Giscafre, Mercury Insurance Open Tournament Director. “We encourage anyone interested to tryout at one of the auditions. It will be quite an experience.”

The 2010 Mercury Insurance Open features an impressive player field. Among the entries are 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur, Russians Dinara Safina, Nadia Petrova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, Serbians Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

Former two-time tournament champion Lindsay Davenport has accepted a wild card into the Mercury Insurance Open doubles competition, where she will partner with fellow American Liezel Huber.

Reserved Grandstand and Box Seat tickets, which range from $10-$125, are now available online at mercuryinsuranceopen.com or through Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com. Tournament Ticket Packages are also on sale and begin at $70. For additional ticket information or to purchase tickets by phone, call (760) 930-7032.

The Mercury Insurance Open, a Premier 700 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event offering $700,000 in prize money, marks the return of women’s professional tennis to Carlsbad after a two-year hiatus. The event will be televised on Tennis Channel and ESPN 2, and will comprise one of the 10 events of the Olympus US Open Series. For additional information about the Mercury Insurance Open, log onto http://www.mercuryinsuranceopen.com, join us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SDTennis), or follow frequent updates on Twitter (http://twitter.com/MercuryInsOpen).

About Mercury Insurance: Founded in 1962, Mercury Insurance (MCY) is a multiple-line insurance organization offering predominantly personal automobile and homeowners insurance through a network of independent agents and brokers in California, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Arizona, New York, Georgia, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Virginia and Pennsylvania. For more information about Mercury Insurance, visit www.mercuryinsurance.com.

About Tri-City Medical Center: Founded in 1957 to serve the healthcare needs of coastal North San Diego County, Tri-City Medical Center is a full-service, acute care hospital with (500) physicians practicing in 60 specialties. The Medical Center is administered by the Tri-City Healthcare District, which includes most of Carlsbad, Oceanside and Vista. For more information about Tri-City Medical Center, please visit www.tricitymed.org.

About the USTA: Now in its seventh season, the Olympus U.S. Open Series has established itself as a true regular season of hard court tennis, linking 10 summer tournaments to the U.S. Open. Fans can follow the action with nearly 200 hours of live television coverage, culminating each week with back-to-back men’s and women’s finals every Sunday afternoon. Players battle for more than $37 million and a chance for bonus prize money at the U.S. Open. In 2008, Olympus became the first title sponsor of the Series. The Olympus U.S. Open Series is also supported by sponsors American Express, Evian and Grand Marnier.

Sam Querrey won the 2009 Olympus U.S. Open Series men’s title and Elena Dementieva won the women’s title. In 2007, Roger Federer collected the biggest paycheck in tennis history -- $2.4 million -- for winning the U.S. Open and the Olympus US Open Series. In 2005, Kim Clijsters captured both the U.S. Open and the Olympus U.S. Open Series, winning $2.2 million -- the largest purse in women’s sports history.

About Octagon Tennis: Octagon has a rich and proud history in the sport of tennis, having managed the careers of 63 Grand Slam Champions and 11 Olympic gold medalists over three decades. In addition, Octagon owns or manages more professional tennis events than any other agency with WTA and ATP events including the Kremlin Cup, Brasil Open, the Movistar Open and the Western & Southern Financial Group Championships, which is also part of the Olympus US Open Series, among others. For more information, please visit www.octagontennis.com.