AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPS
THE QUEEN’S CLUB, LONDON
15-21 JUNE, 2015
AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPS – CHAMPION DIMITROV TO RETURN; MURRAY TARGETS FOURTH TITLE
On the day that the Aegon Championships launches its new Priority Ticket Membership (at 10am), the British No.1 Andy Murray and the tournament’s defending champion Grigor Dimitrov have both committed to return to The Queen’s Club in London, 15-21 June.
World No.6 Murray will target a record-equalling fourth title, while Dimitrov, who beat Murray in the Wimbledon quarterfinals last year, will try to lift the famous trophy again after winning the Aegon Championships for the first time in 2014.
“I’d love to win the tournament again,” said Murray, who would join John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick as four-time champions in the Open era if he were to triumph. “I’ve had some great moments on those grass courts. It’s where I won my first professional match and my first title in Britain. When you see the names on the trophy, it shows how difficult it is to win. The year I won Wimbledon, it came a few weeks after winning at Queen’s, and it’s perfect preparation.”
Dimitrov, who defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 in a classic final last year, said: “I have always had a special relationship with everyone at the Aegon Championships, right from when I was given two wild cards early on in my career, to last year when I lifted the trophy for the first time. It is one of my favourite tournaments and winning the title last year was one of the best moments of my career so far. I am really happy that I will be coming back to defend my title and I look forward to playing in front of the great British crowds again.”
Aegon Championships Tournament Director, Stephen Farrow, said: “We are absolutely delighted to start the new year with such fantastic news. Andy and Grigor are two of the best players in the world, our two most recent champions and they are hugely popular with our spectators. Both have a long association with the event and we are very much looking forward to welcoming them back to the Aegon Championships in June.”
David Macmillan, Chief Marketing Officer at Aegon said: “The Aegon Championships is one of the season’s leading grass court events and it’s great that two of the sport’s biggest names have already confirmed they’ll play at this year’s tournament. Grigor Dimitrov proved himself to be an exciting player and worthy champion last year and fans will no doubt look forward to seeing him and former champion Andy Murray in action again this summer.”
Photo by Brett Connors Photography
Priority Ticket Membership Launches; General Sale Replaces Ticket Ballot; Byes Removed To Guarantee Seeds Play On Monday
For the first time, spectators will be able to book tickets to watch the Aegon Championships on a first-come, first-served basis with the traditional ballot being replaced by a general sale, which opens on Tuesday 3rd March. Fans will also have the option to guarantee tickets in advance of the general sale via a Priority Ticket Membership, which opens at 10am today.
This year, those fans booking tickets for the first day of the tournament (Monday 15th June), will be guaranteed to see some of the top 8 seeds in action with the singles draw reduced in size from 56 to 32, thereby eliminating first round byes.
“The Aegon Championships sells out every year, but we wanted to make the system for buying tickets as fair, straightforward and simple as possible, “ said Tournament Director, Stephen Farrow. “We have reviewed the system, and by replacing the ticket ballot with a general sale, and with an option to become a Priority Ticket Member, we believe we are achieving that. The decision to reduce our singles draw to 32 was made so that we could remove first round byes and ensure that all of the top eight seeds will be playing over the first two days. This will make for an even better ticket on the opening day of the tournament than in previous years.”
An annual Priority Ticket Membership of the Aegon Championships costs £30 (plus a £2 Booking Fee), which guarantees members the ability to purchase either a pair of tickets for a day, or two single tickets for different days. For more details, go to www.aegonchampionships.com
TOURNEY TIDBITS :
• The Aegon Championships takes place at The Queen’s Club in London, 15th-21st June. It has been won four times by John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick. Hewitt, Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have all won the Queen’s-Wimbledon double in the same year.
• The Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) mission is to get more people playing tennis more often, and its role is to develop, promote and govern tennis in Britain.
• Aegon is Lead Partner of British Tennis and is helping to transform the sport in this country. They’re supporting young talent through the Aegon FutureStars programme, as well as sponsoring the junior and senior GB Davis and Fed Cup teams and amateur and professional events. Aegon sponsor three world-class grass court tournaments; the Aegon Classic, Aegon International and Aegon Championships and will also sponsor the new WTA and ATP events in Nottingham from 2015. For further information visit www.aegontennis.co.uk
• For more information on the LTA and British tennis, visit: www.LTA.org.uk
Website: www.davidlawtennis.com
Topics: AEGON Championships, Andy Murray, Chris Kermode, David Law, GRIGOR DIMITROV, London, Queen's Club, sports news, Tennis
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