Why female tennis players are returning to Queen's after half a century
- Published
There are several reasons why female players will return to Queen's for the first time in 52 years, including an ongoing commitment to the growth of women's tennis, and the success of an event at Eastbourne.
The Lawn Tennis Association - the sport's governing body in Britain - hopes the tournament will raise the profile of the women's game and increase the visibility of the sport at the beginning of the grass-court season.
"This year fans will be able to enjoy both men's and women's tennis on the biggest stages that we can offer," said LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd.
"We want to develop the tournaments so that the women's events deliver a path to profitability and greater visibility for the sport."
Queen's will host the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) 500 event that was previously at Eastbourne, which will now stage a 250 event in the build-up to Wimbledon, with Emma Raducanu on the entry list.
"Essentially, in 1974 the LTA decided to move the women's event at Queen's to Eastbourne," Queen's tournament director Laura Robson told BBC Sport.
"It did extremely well and eventually became a combined event in one week. At Queens, logistically it wasn't possible. However, we can now create a two-week festival of tennis, which we know the fans want. This model is popular at other tour events when you can't combine simultaneously.
"Montreal/Toronto is probably the best example of having a combined event that's across different cities."
The WTA Tour includes 250, 500 and 1000-level events - the categories denoting the number of ranking points awarded to the champion. Grand Slams award 2,000 points to the winner.
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Why have female players been absent from Queen's?
Both men's and women's tournaments were held at Queen's under the name the London Grass Court Championship until 1973.
The women's tournament was then discontinued, and the men's event was not held at the venue from 1974-1976.
That returned in 1977 as the Queen's Club Championships.
The draw has since grown from 32 players to 64, while the women's event found a new home in Eastbourne.
This summer, however, there will be a new women's singles champion at Queen's for the first time since Olga Morozova won in 1973.
Olga Morozova beat Evonne Goolagong in the 1973 Queen's final
What else has been said?
Male players have raised concerns about the quality of grass they will compete on after the women's tournament ends, and also there being fewer courts available for those who arrive early to prepare.
The women's tournament will take place from 9-15 June, with the men's event following from 16-22 June.
The LTA has agreed to undertake a review after this year's events.
It has voluntarily increased the standard prize money for the women's event to £1.043m. With minimum prize money levels set by the tours, the men's event will offer a total prize fund of £2.122m.
The LTA has pledged to introduce equal prize money at the grass-court tournaments at Queen's and Eastbourne no later than 2029.
Which women are playing at Queen's?
The tournament will feature a strong line-up, with 10 of the world's top 20 in action.
Qinwen Zheng (China)
Madison Keys (US)
Emma Navarro (US)
Elena Rybakina (Kaz)
Diana Shnaider*
Karolina Muchova (Cze)
Barbora Krejcikova (Cze)
Amanda Anisimova (US)
Daria Kasatkina (Aus)
Donna Vekic (Cro)
Beatriz Haddad Maia (Bra)
Magdalena Frech (Pol)
Leylah Fernandez (Can)
Anna Kalinskaya*
Yulia Putintseva (Kaz)
Katie Boulter (GB)
Emma Raducanu (GB)
Petra Kvitova (Cze)
Sonay Kartal (GB)
Francesca Jones (GB)
Jodie Burrage (GB)
* Russian players currently compete as neutral athletes
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