More people will be able to watch tennis at The Queen’s Club than ever before during the Aegon Championships, 19-25 June, 2017 with the tournament expanding its Centre Court capacity by 30%.
 
More than 2,000 additional seats will be added to the current 6,651 on Centre Court.
 
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), which owns the tournament, has also signed a new 10-year agreement to continue staging the Aegon Championships at The Queen’s Club, up to and including at least 2026. The tournament was first staged at The Queen’s Club in 1890.

“In 2017, the Aegon Championships will be bigger and better than ever,” said Tournament Director, Stephen Farrow. “Last year, we sold out within 24 hours and enjoyed a 20% increase in hospitality sales, so the demand for an increase in capacity is clear. We have worked on these plans for a long time, and we are delighted that we can now move forward with our partners at The Queen’s Club via a new, long-term agreement to take the event to the next level and enable more people to attend than ever before.”
 
Andrew Stewart, Chief Executive of The Queen’s Club, said:

“The Aegon Championships is the highlight of the Club’s calendar and we are delighted to have secured this new agreement for the next 10 years. While the increase in capacity will allow more people to enjoy the event, both we and the LTA will ensure that the intimate atmosphere for which Queen’s is so well known will be retained.”

Tara McGregor-Woodhams, Head of Brand and Sponsorship Aegon UK, added:

“This is smashing news for tennis fans. The continued success of British tennis is helping to get more and more youngsters involved with the game as well as attracting an army of new fans. Increased capacity at The Aegon Championships will give more people the opportunity to watch some of the best tennis players in the world”. 
 
The Aegon Championships has been broadcast live on BBC television and radio for more than 35 years and is an established part of the British sporting calendar.
 
The champion at The Queen’s Club has gone on to win Wimbledon in the same year on 22 occasions. The 22nd was Andy Murray in 2016.
 
Murray won a record fifth title in the process, defeating Milos Raonic in a thrilling three-set final just two days after the tournament had celebrated other four-time champions Roy Emerson, John McEnroe, Boris Becker and Lleyton Hewitt in an on-court presentation.
 
Murray vs. Raonic would be reprised three weeks later in the Wimbledon final, with Murray taking the title at The All England Club for a second time. 

The Aegon Championships will be broadcast live in 2017 by the BBC and Eurosport in UK. 
 
The Aegon Championships has been voted Tournament Of The Year by the players for the past three years, twice as an ATP 250 event, and also last year in the higher ATP 500 category. 

Hospitality packages for the Aegon Championships are currently available goo.gl/3ddSV3. Tickets will go on sale in the new year. 

The LTA’s mission is to get more people playing tennis more often, and its role is to develop, promote and govern tennis in Britain.

Rafael Nadal showed no interest in a late night out at Flushing Meadows Wednesday, racing away with the first seven games of the match to set up a routine straight-sets victory over Italian veteran Andreas Seppi.

Nadal’s 6-0, 7-5, 6-1 win was overshadowed by the historic closure of the retractable roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time in match play. Eager tournament referee Brian Earley needed little encouragement to close the roof at 10.39 p.m. when the much-anticipated raindrops fell.

“It is great to be the first player to play with the roof closed, in the competition, because I was the first player to hit in the Centre Court with the roof closed,” said Nadal. “[There is] no big difference. With the roof open there is no wind at all, so it’s not a big change. And the roof is so high you don’t feel that you are closed… It’s an unbelievable, unbelievable court.”

Fans raced to pull out their mobile phones to capture the closing, which happened at a speedy clip of 5 mins., 35 seconds.

Gordon Smith, USTA Executive Director, said of the closing: “I thought people would like it. I don’t think anyone went to the bathroom or got a beer. Everyone stayed to watch the roof close. Play was suspended for just seven minutes and 22 seconds and the players didn’t leave the court.”

Fielding questions about crowd noise being amplified by the roof closure, M. Smith said that the USTA was collecting data that would be reviewed.

Back on court, Nadal at times appeared to lack a little confidence with his forehand but at other times produced some of his signature forehand winners.

“Today was a good win,” said Nadal. “I feel that I played a little bit more aggressive than in the first round… The last forehand of the match was great. I hit some good forehands down the line again. That’s an important shot for me.”

Some days, the mind and body just aren’t in sync. For Milos Raonic, Wednesday was one of those days at Flushing Meadows.

The fifth-seeded Canadian conceded stress and cramps were a significant factor in falling 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 to American Ryan Harrison in the US Open second round. It is the first time Harrison has progressed as far at a major, while it marks the first time this season Raonic has failed to reach the fourth round at a major.

“I was my own worst enemy today,” Raonic said. “I tried the best I could to find my way out of it. My body didn’t let me. It was numerous things: the left arm; right forearm there towards the end of the third; both quads; a little bit hip flexor on the left.”

The Canadian finished with 18 aces but threw in an uncharacteristic 15 double faults. He won just 67 per cent of first-serve points to Harrison’s 74 per cent and was brought undone by 62 errors, almost double his opponent’s.

“I think I hesitated at the beginning. I forced a little bit. I wasn’t moving that well. Then later on, a bunch of those were sort of out of my hand,” Raonic said of the error count. “There were points there that I could barely hold the racquet. I was just sort of trying to get through, either hope it subsides after a certain amount of time or gets better. It just didn’t happen.

“I can’t remember a single time where I’ve lost a match because of cramping.”

In a breakout year for the Canadian, expectations were high after reaching his maiden Grand Slam final at Wimbledon. Still, he was adamant he had not piled too much of that pressure on himself.

“I think I put it on myself the same way in London,” he said. “I think I put it on myself the same way the beginning of the year in Australia. I believe a lot in myself. I try to get the most out of every single time, out of all the important tournaments.

“Now I have a bunch of tournaments left to play with specific goals in mind of what I would like to do for the rest of the year. I’m going to try to get every inch out of maximising that as well.”

Despite the loss, Raonic remains in strong contention to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Coming into the US Open he was third in the Emirates ATP Race To London with 4,375 points, 1,845 points clear of ninth-placed Tomas Berdych. The Top 8 finishers in the Race qualify for the season finale, to be held 13-20 November at The O2.

American qualifier Ryan Harrison claimed the biggest win of his career Wednesday when he upset fifth seed Milos Raonic 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 at the US Open. Harrison played inspired tennis and took advantage of an ailing Raonic, who struggled with his court movement.

Harrison had a 1-26 record against Top 10 opponents before today, with his lone win coming over then World No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov in Acapulco in 2015.

Levelling the match at one-set all after converting his seventh set point, Harrison looked a long way from victory when Raonic broke him in the first game of the third set. But the Canadian seemed in less than perfect fitness and handed back the break in the eighth game, when he served three double faults. Soon after Raonic served two more double faults and missed an overhead to drop serve and hand Harrison the set.

In the fourth set, this year’s Wimbledon finalist began to labour even more with his court movement, with Harrison remaining strong in warm conditions to claim the victory.

It was a poor serving day for the Canadian, who threw in 15 double faults, and won just 67 per cent of the first serves he put into play. He also paid the price for converting just three of 19 break point chances. He also made nearly twice as many unforced errors (62 to 33) than Harrison as he delivered a high-risk groundstroke bombardment, crushing flat forehands and backhands with little margin for error.

But take no credit away from Harrison, who took the fight to Raonic with 23 forehand winners and 10 backhand winners, including a number of key backhand passes when Raonic was at net. He also handled the warm conditions better and looked fresh despite the first three sets lasting 3 hrs. and 11 mins.

Harrison next meets former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, a 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 winner over Frenchman Benoit Paire.