Tournament Preview: The Artois Championships

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 14:12

What’s it all about? The traditional warm-up event to Wimbledon for the men, the Artois Championships is one of the highlights of the grass-court calendar.

When’s it happening? Monday June 9 through to finals day on Sunday June 15.

Where is it? LTA and one of the country’s premier tennis clubs.

Why should I go there? The Artois Championships are your best chance of seeing the big names in action before they head off to SW19. Over the years Wimbledon champs John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Lleyton Hewitt have graced the Queen’s Club turf, and there’s always plenty of Brits in the draw looking to take a high-profile scalp or two.

Who can I see this year? Virtually every grass-court contender, except for Federer, who always kicks off his season in Halle. Rafael Nadal tops this year’s bill, alongside Andy Roddick, Novak Djokovic, and of course Mr Murray. Marat Safin and former champion Lleyton Hewitt are also in the field, as well as former Wimbledon semi-finalists Xavier Malisse and Jonas Bjorkman. There’s plenty of other British interest as well – James Ward and Richard Bloomfield came through the qualifiers to join wildcards Alex Bogdanovic, Josh Goodall and teen Dan Evans.

How do I get tickets? There have been a whole bunch of tickets returned for Centre Court, available at the venue.

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