A sparkling new WTA Tour event is set to light up The Queen’s Club next month, with the quality of the entry list highlighting the significance of the new addition to the grass-court season.
Britain’s Emma Raducanu is one of a whole heap of stellar names taking part as women’s tennis returns to the historic Queen’s Club for the first time in over 50 years for The HSBC Championships.
The WTA 500 tournament will get underway on June 9, a week before another star cast list takes to the courts at The Queen’s Club when Carlos Alcaraz, Jack Draper and some of the biggest names in men’s tennis play in the iconic ATP 500 tournament.
Here is a rundown on why you need to be at The Queen’s Club as women’s tennis returns to the grounds for the first time in more than half a century – and information on how you can experience the event in style in hospitality.
The star names
As well as 2021 US Open champion Raducanu, there are five other Grand Slam champions taking part, with former world No 1 Naomi Osaka, former Wimbledon champions Petra Kvitova, Barbora Krejcikova, Elena Rybakina, and 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys all set to feature in the WTA main draw.
The event will also include British No 1 Katie Boulter and four of the world’s top 10 in Jessica Pegula, Keys, Emma Navarro, and Paris 2024 Olympic Champion Zheng Qinwen.
In the men’s ATP 500 tournament, former Queen’s Club champion Alcaraz leads a field that will also include world No 5 Draper, with Denmark’s Holger Rune and America’s Ben Shelton also playing and a few more big names are set to be confirmed imminently.
At an iconic venue
Established in 1886, The Queen’s Club is one of the most iconic and historic sporting venues in the country.
And in tennis terms, it’s been host to one of the oldest tournaments in the world, The Queen’s Club Championships, since 1890.
Held in the break between the end of the French Open and the start of Wimbledon, the tournament, now known as the HSBC Championships, heralds the start of summer sport in the UK and seems to almost always be played out in beautiful conditions.
And with a Centre Court capacity of around 9,000, a fair bit lower than Wimbledon a few miles down the road, Queen’s Club offers a feeling of intimacy with fans, quite literally, in touching distance of some of the game’s top stars.
In a major WTA event
With the exception of a three-year hiatus between 1974 and 1976, only the World Wars and coronavirus pandemic have stopped the men’s tournament from being held since its inception.
But this will be the first time professional women’s tennis has been at Queens’s Club in 52 years, with the last edition taking place way back in 1973. It’s a WTA 500 tournament, too, and could have an impact on the seedings for the third Grand Slam of the year at Wimbledon.
With no WTA 1000 1000 tournaments on grass courts, this event at The Queen’s Club will be the biggest prize on offer in this phase of the tennis year.
An exceptional fan experience
With tickets for the HSBC Championship almost sold out, snapping up a hospitality package may be the only way to guarantee your seat to watch the best of women’s and men’s tennis in London this summer.
And Keith Prowse, the official hospitality partner of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), has launched The View, a new premium experience at The Queen’s Club that offers the opportunity to make an amazing experience even more magical.
The introduction of The View means there are now a comprehensive suite of seven hospitality experiences to choose from, catering to a diverse range of preferences. These experiences range from the relaxed and social ‘Informal’ through to the ultimate luxury of the ‘Super Premium’.
The View was meticulously crafted in close collaboration with the LTA team and launched following the tournament’s record-breaking annual sales cycle in 2024.
Benefits include a VIP lane at the main entrance that leads straight into a first-floor space with fantastic views, an inside/outside sit-up bar, a pamper space, and several smaller areas to have conversations as well as a larger informal area around the kitchen.
And as well as premium seats in the North Stand, just behind the players, you’ll also get access to an exclusive balcony that allows you to watch the stars warming up on the practice courts. There really is no better way to kick off summer.
A new standard for women’s sport hospitality
Women’s sport has witnessed a significant boom over the past 10 years – attendance, media prominence and more – but this phenomenon is perhaps less so represented when it comes to women’s sports hospitality…
That changes NOW, with the launch of HERStory, a female-driven and delivered premium experience, with the industry-first iteration being served on June 12 and 13 to celebrate the return of professional women’s tennis to Queen’s – and with profits benefiting the LTA Tennis Foundation.
With former Sky Sports presenter Kirsty Gallagher hosting guests at The Queen’s Club for the WTA 500 tournament, this will be a tennis experience like no other.
What they say – Tournament Director, Laura Robson
“This player list is yet further confirmation that spectators are in for a brilliant opening week of tennis at the HSBC Championships. These women are some of the fiercest competitors on the WTA Tour, and with so many grand slam winners set to take to the courts, the standard of tennis on show will be immense as they battle to be the first women’s winner at the Queen’s Club for over half a century.
“I first remember coming to Queen’s as a 10-year-old and watching the men’s event, so now to have women’s tennis back in London for the first time in 50 years and have the line-up that we do, it’s a massive honour and I can’t wait to get it going.”
Choose your hospitality experience at Queen’s Club today with Keith Prowse
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