The ‘Aegon’ Championships is a Tennis tournament played every year in the run up to Wimbledon, and takes place at the historical ‘Queens Club’ complex in West London. This year’s competition starts on the 10 – 16 June, with champion Marin Cilic looking to defend his crown.
Current
The 2012 tournament had a strong field of players who chose to participate, including Jo Wilfred Tsonga, two time former winner Andy Murray, and previous three time champion Andy Roddick. Croatian Marin Cilic controversially won the final, as his opponent David Nalbandian was disqualified for ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’ when he kicked an advertising panel, which subsequently hit a line judge.
This year’s competition promises to be even better as current A.T.P. World number six seed Tomas Berdych has committed to play, along with number seven seed Juan Martin Del Potro. These two are potential 2013 champions, along with current holder Cilic, Frenchman Jo Wilfred Tsonga and Great Britain’s 2012 U.S. Open winner Andy Murray.
One other player to watch is twenty five year old American Sam Querrey who previously won the tournament in 2010, and could provide a stern test for any opponent this year at ‘Queen’s Club’.
Venue
The ‘Queens Club’ venue where the ‘Aegon’ Championships are staged dates back to 1886 and is named after Queen Victoria, also according to the Championship’s own website, it was the ‘first multipurpose sports complex ever to be built, anywhere in the world’. All the history involved ensures that the ‘Aegon’ Championships are a special event in its own right, whilst also being good preparation for Wimbledon.
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The ‘Aegon’ Championships has had some legendary winners in the past, such as Boris Becker, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras and Stefan Edberg. The tournament is played just before Wimbledon, meaning that some players use it as further preparation to get used to English grass court conditions. This has been beneficial for Pete Sampras, Lleyton Hewitt and Rafael Nadal, as they have all previously won both tournaments in the same year.
