The Queen’s tournament, which has been exclusively for men since 1973, plans to host a women’s tournament in 2025.
This event will be held a week before the men’s event, so it will be held right after Roland Garros and three weeks before Wimbledon.
The holding of the tournament will be subject to the courts being restored to good condition prior to the men’s event.
“We are very confident of this and we have enough evidence from the All England Club that the courts can last two weeks,” British Tennis Federation president Scott Lloyd said. “The grass courts at Queen’s are fully capable of hosting two weeks of professional tennis. We think it will be great for tour tournaments on this surface and for women’s tournaments,” he added.
Unlike Wimbledon, which has 19 official courts, along with two dozen practice courts, the Queen’s tournament is smaller and has only two courts with stands, plus a few secondary courts. The central stadium has a capacity for around 9,000 spectators and the second most important track has standing room only on two sides of the track.
This tournament, one of the oldest in the world, began to be played in 1881, in men’s and women’s categories, but the women’s event stopped in 1973 and has not returned. Chris Evert, winner of 18 Grand Slams, and Margaret Court, who won 24 Grand Slams during her career and is the most awarded in history, will be among the champions of the event.
The Queen’s tournament, regularly selected as the best ATP 500 of the season, was accused of being sexist in 2022 when Canadian Denis Shapovalov criticized the organization for not allowing his girlfriend, Swedish Mirjam Bjorklund, current no. 282. in the world , train at the facilities in preparation for Wimbledon, as it is an exclusively men’s tournament.
If the Queen’s initiative goes ahead, it will have a WTA 500 category and Eastbourne will be a WTA 250 category.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
