A women’s tournament will return to the Queen’s Club for the first time in more than 50 years in 2025 following discussions with the ATP about the impact on the men’s event the week after.
Male players raised concerns about the quality of the grass courts they will inherit at the historic venue in west London.
The ATP has requested a review take place after next year’s inaugural two-week event, but the LTA says it is “very confident it will be a permanent move”.
“We have reassured the ATP on multiple occasions that there won’t be an impact on the integrity and performance of the court,” said LTA director of major events Chris Pollard.
“The ATP want a review at the end of the 2025 tournament. Our focus remains on delivering a really successful tournament and we therefore remain very confident it will be a permanent move, and the ATP will continue to support us in hosting a women’s and men’s event at the Queen’s Club into the long term.”
The LTA says it has studied weather conditions, the density of the soil and potential wear to areas of the court, such as the baseline.
However, there will be fewer available courts for men who arrive early to practise and prepare for the qualifying event, which will take place on the final weekend of the WTA tournament.
The women will play at Queen’s in the week immediately after the French Open. The LTA hopes that will raise the profile of the women’s game and increase the visibility of the sport at the beginning of the grass-court season.
Last year only five of the world’s top 20 players competed in the week after Roland Garros, but the LTA believes the “iconic venue and pristine grass” of Queen’s will tempt more to play.
Prize money will be lower for the women’s tournament, even though both events will have ‘500 status’ and take place at the same venue.
“It’s a very complex situation given that prize money ultimately is set by the WTA and the ATP,” Pollard explained.
“We are delighted that the WTA are moving to an equal prize money basis. Ultimately the men’s tournament at Queen’s currently is the only profitable tournament the LTA runs – the other tournaments at this point in time aren’t commercially successful.
“I am not aware that across the WTA Tour season there is a precedent for another WTA Tour event unilaterally increasing prize money.”
The WTA 250 event at Nottingham will move back a week so that in future it follows the women’s tournament at Queen’s, and the Edgbaston Priory Club will lose the WTA event it first staged in 1982, when Billie Jean King won the title.
It will instead replace Surbiton as host of the men’s and women’s Challenger tournaments played in the first week of the grass-court season, as the French Open is coming to a boil at Roland Garros.
Eastbourne will still stage a combined event in the week before Wimbledon, but the WTA tournament there will be downgraded to 250 status, which means greater restrictions on who can enter.
As a WTA 500 event is staged in Germany in the same week, no top-10 player will be allowed to enter Eastbourne – unless they are British, the defending champion, a Grand Slam champion or former world number one.
2024-05-16 13:40:31
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