Location London
United Kingdom Draw 32S / 32Q / 24D Venue Queen's Club | Surface Grass / Outdoors Prize money 711,010 EUR | |
Founded 1890; 127 years ago (1890) Category ATP World Series
(1990–1997)
ATP International Series
(1998–2008)
ATP World Tour 250 series
(2009–2014)
ATP World Tour 500 series
(2015 Onwards) Website www.aegonchampionships.com Instances 2016 Aegon Championships, 2015 Aegon Championships, 2014 Aegon Championships, 2017 Aegon Championships, 2015 Aegon Champio Profiles | ||
The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP World Tour 500 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. It is currently promoted as the Aegon Championships for sponsorship reasons. For many years previously it was known as the Stella Artois Championships.
Contents
Queen's is one of the most prestigious grass court tournaments, as well as one of the oldest Tennis tournaments in the world, and serves as a warm-up for Wimbledon. Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt dominated the tournament in the early 21st century, each winning four titles. Andy Murray won a record five titles between 2009 and 2016. Andy Roddick has called the courts at the Queen's Club "arguably the best in the world".
History
Originally known as the London Grass Court Championships, the tournament traces back to 1884 when a tennis tournament was held at the London Athletic Club at Stamford Bridge, Fulham. One year later the tournament was given the title of the London Championships, and it was on held outdoor grass courts. In 1890, the tournament moved to its current location, the Queen's Club and consisted of a men's and women's singles event. In 1903 a men's doubles event was added followed in 1905 by the mixed doubles competition. In 1915 the addition of a women's doubles event completed the programme. The two World Wars interrupted the tournament from 1915–1918 and 1940–1946. Between 1970 and 1989 the Championships were part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit. The women's tournament was discontinued after the 1973 edition and from 1974 until 1976 no men's tournament was held. The event is currently an ATP World Tour 500 series tournament on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour and was upgraded from a ATP World Tour 250 series in 2015.
During the 2004 singles tournament, Andy Roddick set the then world record for the fastest serve, recorded at 153 mph (246.2 km/h) during a straight-set victory over Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan in the quarter-finals.
In 2016. Andy Murray won the singles title for a record fifth time. Seven men have won four singles titles; Major Ritchie, Anthony Wilding, Roy Emerson, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick.
Schedule
The Queen's Club Championships are held every year in June. They start one week after the clay-court French Open and conclude one week before the start of the grass court Wimbledon Championships, which are held just 4 miles (6 km) away. The equivalent warm-up event for women is the Eastbourne International, although this is held one week later.
Up to 2014, the break between the French Open and Wimbledon was just two weeks, and the Queen's Club Championships started the day after the French Open's men's final. This changed when Wimbledon moved back a week to expand the length of the grass court season.
Grass courts are the least common playing surface for top-level events on the ATP World Tour. The 2009 schedule included only four grass court tournaments in the run-up to Wimbledon. They were the Queen's Club Championships, Gerry Weber Open, Eastbourne International, and the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships. An additional tournament is played on grass in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, in the week immediately after Wimbledon.
Coverage
Queen's enjoys full coverage on the BBC in the UK, via BBC television, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sport online. It was shown in High Definition for the first time in 2009. Eurosport also broadcasts throughout each tournament.
The ball girls for the Aegon Championships are provided by Nonsuch High School and St Philomena's Catholic High School for Girls, two schools in the London Borough of Sutton.
Sponsorship
From 1979 until 2008, the tournament was sponsored by Stella Artois, and thus called the Stella Artois Championships. In 2009 the tournament was renamed the Aegon Championships following a comprehensive sponsorship deal between Lawn Tennis Association and Aegon, which also led to renaming of Birmingham and Eastbourne grass court events. In 2014, Hackett London became the official clothing sponsors of the tournament.
Men
Since 1890:
Men
Since 1969:
(Note: Tournament dates back to 1890)
Players and winners
Matches
Attendance
Centre Court holds 6,479 spectators. The highest total attendance for the week was in 2003, when 52,553 people attended the event; The highest attendance for one day was 8,362 on 11 June 2003.