Queen’s serves up a huge boost for women’s tennis

It seems fitting that the newly titled Andy Murray Arena at the Queen’s Club should begin life with the return of women’s tennis to west London for the first time in 50 years.

Sir Andy will open the rebranded Centre Court on which he won five singles titles tomorrow. He was a consistent champion of women’s sport in his playing career so is an appropriate herald of a new tournament the Lawn Tennis Association hopes will prove a game-changer for the sport.

“If you go back a few decades, tennis has been a trailblazer in putting women and men on an equal footing,” says Chris Pollard, the Lawn Tennis Association’s managing director of commercial and operations. “The Slams are obviously combined tournaments, and increasingly the Masters events are moving that way. We absolutely think it’s the right direction to go.

“Queen’s is a central London venue, and an award-winning tournament which the men have voted the best on the circuit for the last three years. We’re very proud to open it up for the women on an equal basis. This can be a game-changer for women’s tennis.”

The LTA has spent the past three years negotiating with the men’s and women’s tours [ATP and WTA] over creating a new joint tournament under the Queen’s Club banner, with the result that the WTA 500 event held at Eastbourne will now take place in west London the week before the men’s ATP tournament featuring Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper.

Both tournaments were held at Queen’s as the London Grass Court Championship until 1973. They stopped until 1977 when the men’s championship was rebranded Queen’s and the women were moved to Eastbourne. Ahead of the relaunch, the LTA has agreed to increase the prize money offered by the WTA at Eastbourne to £1.04m, as well as committing to matching the prize fund of the men’s event by 2029 (it is currently £2.12m). The BBC is also on board, and last month signed a new three-year deal for Queen’s that will see the women’s tournament broadcast live on their main channels, providing vital exposure for tennis outside the Wimbledon fortnight.

As is commonplace in recently professionalised women’s sports such as football and cricket, the LTA is investing ahead of revenues, but with 50,000 tickets from Queen’s week-long capacity of 60,000 already sold, and HSBC having agreed a new four-year deal as title sponsor, there is confidence the event will eventually pay for itself.

The final three days have sold out, but some tickets are available at the start of the week. Players have certainly responded – 10 of the world’s top 20 have signed up including Madison Keys, plus leading Brits Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu. British No 4 Fran Jones is particularly excited about playing what she describes as a “mini-Wimbledon” for the first time.

“My earliest memory is my parents got invited here, and my mum sent me a picture with Rafa [Nadal], who was my idol at the time. So I always -associate Queen’s with my mum -- and -Rafa.

“According to the men this is their favourite event of the year so to have a piece of that will be super special.

“People call this a sort of mini-Wimbledon. The men always talk about how Queen’s gives them something to work with towards Wimbledon, this now gives us a chance as females.”

Photograph by Luke Walker/Getty for LTA