UPDATE: WTA event returns to London for the first time in 50 years as this grass court event gets added to British calendar for 2025

The Queen's Club will host the WTA event to popularize women's tennis in Britain.

UPDATE: WTA event returns to London for the first time in 50 years as this grass court event gets added to British calendar for 2025

WTA event returns to London first the first time in 50 years (Image via Imago)

For the first time in over 50 years, a WTA event will be held at the Queen’s Club in London next summer. The UK’s Lawn Tennis Association released a report revealing the reason why they decided to conduct a women’s event. 

The Queen’s Club will host the WTA event to popularize women’s tennis in Britain. The event will be held from June 9 following the French Open and during that week, Ilkley Lawn Tennis Club will also be hosting a combined men’s and women’s challengers’ event. 

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This new calendar is an important step in increasing the visibility of our sport, particularly the women’s game. The changes mean we can deliver a high-profile women’s tour event in London for the first time in half a century.
Chris Pollard, LTA Director of Major Events and Digital said in the report

Also, the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham will be hosting a combined men’s and women’s challenger-level events. It will be held in the second week of the French Open. Notably, since 1982, a WTA Tour-level tournament has been held in Birmingham. 

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WTA 500 event in London may be scrapped if male players are unhappy 

As per a report published by Guardian-Series, the WTA 500 event in 2025 may be scrapped in 2026 if the ATP feels the women’s event is impacting their matches. 

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A WTA 500 event will be played at Queen’s Park (Image via Imago)
They would like to consider what happens after 2025, but we remain in very close dialogue with them on that point and remain very confident that there will be a permanent change.
Chris Pollard said 

Pollard is confident that the ATP 500 won’t suffer due to the women’s event of the same category. He pointed out that the grass courts are not affected much during the two weeks of the Wimbledon Championships.

At the same time, there will be disparities in prize money and men will be earning more. LTA revealed that though there will be disparities, they’ll show free-to-air coverage of both events. 

Apart from the mentioned events, an ATP 500 tournament will be played from June 16, and following its conclusion, Lexus Nottingham Tennis Centre will host a combined WTA 250 and ATP 125 events. Then the Devonshire Park in Eastbourne will conduct the WTA 250 and ATP 250 events.

The final grass-court event will be the season’s third Grand Slam tournament-the Wimbledon Championship, at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. The high-profile event will kick-start on June 30 and will be wrapped up on July 13. 

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