Queen's Club Championships

The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP World Tour 500 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. It is currently promoted as the Aegon Championships for sponsorship reasons. For many years previously it was known as the Stella Artois Championships.Queen's is one of the most prestigious grass court tournaments, as well as one of the oldest Tennis tournaments in the world, and serves as a warm-up for Wimbledon. Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt dominated the tournament in the early 21st century, each winning four titles. Andy Murray won a record five titles between 2009 and 2016. Andy Roddick has called the courts at the Queen's Club "arguably the best in the world".HistoryOriginally known as the London Grass Court Championships, the tournament traces back to 1884 when a tennis tournament was held at the London Athletic Club at Stamford Bridge, Fulham. One year later the tournament was given the title of the London Championships, and it was on held outdoor grass courts. In 1890, the tournament moved to its current location, the Queen's Club and consisted of a men's and women's singles event. In 1903 a men's doubles event was added followed in 1905 by the mixed doubles competition. In 1915 the addition of a women's doubles event completed the programme. The two World Wars interrupted the tournament from 1915–1918 and 1940–1946. Between 1970 and 1989 the Championships were part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit. The women's tournament was discontinued after the 1973 edition and from 1974 until 1976 no men's tournament was held. The event is currently an ATP World Tour 500 series tournament on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour and was upgraded from a ATP World Tour 250 series in 2015.