Queen's Club

The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the prestigious annual Queen's Club Championships grass court men's lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the AEGON Championships for sponsorship reasons). It has 28 outdoor courts and eight indoor. With two courts, it is also the national headquarters of real tennis, hosting the British Open every year. The Queen's Club also has rackets, and squash courts; it has now become the headquarters for both these sports due to the Prince's Club closure in 1940.HistoryFounded as The Queen's Club Limited on 19 August 1886 by Evan Charteris, George Francis and Algernon Grosvener, the Queen's Club was the world's second multipurpose sports complex, after the Prince's Club, and became the only one after the Prince's Club relocated to Knightsbridge and lost its outdoor sports facilities. The club is named after Queen Victoria, its first patron. On 19 May 1887 the first lawn tennis courts were opened and on 1–2 July 1887 the first sporting event was held when Oxford played Cambridge. The construction of the club buildings took about eighteen months and they were opened in January 1888. William Marshall, finalist of the inaugural 1877 Wimbledon Championships was the architect. Among the initial sports offered at the club were real tennis, Eton Fives, rackets, lawn tennis (grass courts and covered courts), football, rugby and athletics. Cricket was also played but not as an organized sport. The University Sports meeting between Cambridge and Oxford was held at the Queen's Club from 1888 to 1928.