The Aegon Championships has been voted ATP 250 Tournament of the Year by the players of the ATP World Tour in the 2013 awards.
It is the first time that the Aegon Championships, held every June on grass at The Queen’s Club in London, has received the award, which had gone to the tournament in Bastad, Sweden for the previous 11 years.
Michael Downey, Chief Executive at the Lawn Tennis Association, said: “We are delighted to receive this award which recognises the fabulous jobs that our Aegon Championships team, The Queen's Club and our long-time Tournament Director and now the ATP's Executive Chairman and President, Chris Kermode, have done over the years, and the contribution made by our commercial partners, particularly Aegon. We are now building towards making the 2014 event a success, with our sights also set firmly on 2015, when the tournament will attain ATP-500 status for the first time, at the heart of an expanded grass court season."
Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President, said: “Many congratulations to the Aegon Championships for being voted as the ATP World Tour 250 of the year in 2013. I've experienced first-hand just how much hard work and effort the tournament team has put in over the years in ensuring a world-class event. I'm delighted that the tournament has been recognised through this award, which is truly well deserved."
David Macmillan, Chief Marketing Officer, Aegon UK, added: “For the Aegon Championships to be voted the ATP 250 tournament of the year by the players is the best possible accolade for what is the flagship event of our partnership with British Tennis. Great credit should be given to the LTA’s tournament team that work so hard in partnership with The Queen’s Club who allow their club to be transformed every year to be ready to host this world class tennis event.”
The Tournament Awards recognise leading standards set within the ATP World Tour. The other tournament category awards went to Shanghai (Masters 1000) and Dubai (ATP 500). The Aegon Championships will be re-categorised as an ATP 500 event from 2015.
The tournament at The Queen’s Club also received an additional award for Best Player Services for the European Group in 2013, as voted by ATP staff.
The event has been staged at The Queen’s Club for more than a century, and the grass courts have been described as “the best in the world” by former champions Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, and current title-holder, Andy Murray, amongst many others.
Murray, who completed the Aegon Championships-Wimbledon double in 2013, has already confirmed that he will return, 9th-15th June, to try to join Roddick, Hewitt, John McEnroe and Boris Becker as the only four-time winners of one of the biggest, and most famous trophies in tennis.