Fever-Tree Championships
The Queen’s Club
18-24 June, 2018
Fever-Tree Championships – Edmund To Play In Britain As Nation’s No.1 Ranked Man For First Time; Lopez To Return To Scene Of Greatest Triumph
British No.1 Kyle Edmund and defending champion Feliciano Lopez have added their names to a star-studded list of players intending to play in the newly-named Fever-Tree Championships at The Queen’s Club, 18-24 June.
Edmund and Lopez will join 3 of the world’s current Top 4 ranked players – Rafael Nadal (2), Marin Cilic (3), Grigor Dimitrov (4) – and 5-time champion Andy Murray in entering the tournament which yesterday announced Fever-Tree, the premium brand mixer-drinks company, as its title-sponsor.
Edmund became the British No.1 after a stunning run to the semifinals of the Australian Open in January, replacing Murray who has endured an extended absence from the game because of injury. Edmund’s appearance at the Fever-Tree Championships will be his first in Britain since becoming his nation’s No.1 ranked male player. Murray held the British No.1 position for nearly 12 years.
“I am very much looking forward to playing the Fever-Tree Championships in June,” said Edmund, who beat Dimitrov to reach the semifinals in Melbourne before going down to Cilic in the final four.
“Competing in front of British tennis fans at home is always a thrill, and I would love to do well at The Queen’s Club. The tournament is one of the best of the year with so much history. With Wimbledon just around the corner I really want to see what I can do on the grass. The transition to grass is always a challenge, but I think I’m getting better at it. I’ve got another year of experience on the tour and this is an opportunity for me to put that on the court.
“It’ll be a really good feeling to go to the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s as British No.1. It’s a combination of me doing well and Andy dropping down the rankings because of injury, but I’m happy to be there. I’m not going to just stop working hard because I’m there. The expectations will be high, that’s normal. I’ve just got do my best.”
Lopez won the title at his 12th attempt, defeating Cilic in one of the best finals in the event’s history.
“Winning the trophy at Queen’s meant everything to me,” said Lopez. “Outside the Slams I think it is one of the biggest tournaments in the world to win because of the history, the club, the trophy. It is unique. After trying for more than 10 years and losing against Grigor (Dimitrov) after having match point in the 2014 final, it was so, so special to finally do it – one of the best moments of my whole career. I will be so proud to come back to the Fever Tree Championships to try to defend my title.”
Stephen Farrow, Tournament Director, said: “We are delighted to add Kyle and Feliciano’s names to the Fever-Tree Championships line-up just a day after our new title-sponsor came on board. Kyle has played well at The Queen’s Club before, reaching the quarterfinals two years ago, but over the past few months he has reached another level. It will be a special moment to see him make his first appearance in Britain as the nation’s No.1 male player, on our centre court.
“Feliciano winning this title a year ago touched everyone, and it was just an amazing final. He is one of the most popular players every year, both on court with the crowd and off it behind the scenes with all the staff at the tournament. We can’t wait to see Kyle and Feliciano in June.”
Tickets for the Fever-Tree Championships went on sale recently amidst record demand. The tournament’s Centre Court capacity increased by more than 30% last year. The event will be covered throughout by BBC television, radio and online, by Amazon Prime Video for the first time and around the world in more than 40 countries.
Tickets and hospitality packages are available here – https://www.lta.org.uk/major-events/fever-tree-championships/tickets/
The Fever-Tree Championships
ABOUT FEVER-TREE
Fever-Tree is the world’s leading supplier of premium carbonated mixers for alcoholic spirits by retail sales value, with distribution to over 60 countries worldwide. Based in the UK, the brand was launched in 2005 to provide high quality mixers which could cater to the growing demand for premium spirits, in particular gin, but also increasingly for vodka, rum and whisky. The Company now sells a range of carbonated mixers to hotels, restaurants, bars and cafes (“On Trade”) as well as selected retail outlets (“Off Trade”). www.fever-tree.com
ABOUT THE LTA:
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the National Governing Body for tennis in Great Britain, responsible for developing and promoting the sport, with a mission to get more people playing tennis more often. It does this under the consumer brand of British Tennis, by working with a broad range of partners and over 25,000 volunteers, to grow the game in communities, clubs and schools. The LTA represents the interests of over 590,000 British Tennis Members, men and women, girls and boys across the country, playing on more than 23,000 courts. The LTA runs and supports a network of 11,500 approved tournaments for players of all ages, the corner-stones of which are the premier grass court events leading up to Wimbledon, held in Nottingham, Birmingham, Queen’s Club-London and Eastbourne. The LTA works with many delivery partners to grow the sport across the country. One of these is its charitable entity, the Tennis Foundation, to provide a tennis provision for more than 20,000 schools, disadvantaged youth as well as promoting tennis as an inclusive sport for anyone with a disability. For further information about the LTA and British Tennis, and to review the British Tennis strategy for 2015 – 2019 visit www.lta.org.uk or follow us on Twitter @BritishTennis.
Topics: 10sballs, Andy Murray, Atp, Feliciano Lopez, Fever-Tree, Fever-Tree Championships, GRIGOR DIMITROV, Kyle Edmund, London, Lta, Men's tennis, Queen's Club, Rafael Nadal, Tennis, Tennis News