LONDON, May 17, 2016
Three members of the team that won the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas for Great Britain in 2015 have been awarded the three singles wild cards into the Aegon Championships, which takes place 13th-19th June at The Queen’s Club.
Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans, who have both reached career-high rankings inside the Top 100 this year, and 2011 Aegon Championships semifinalist James Ward, have all been given an opportunity to be part of the strongest line-up in the event’s history.
Six of the world’s Top Ten have entered, with Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka headlining a field that features 16 of the world’s Top 30. Novak Djokovic has not entered a tournament between the French Open and Wimbledon, but would qualify for an additional wild card into an ATP-500 event such as the Aegon Championships if he wanted one, as a result of being on the ATP’s A+ list of players.
“The performances and progress of Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans this year have been significant, and James Ward is a crowd-favourite at the Aegon Championships after his run five years ago,” said Tournament Director, Stephen Farrow. “As well as that, they were all part of a British team that created history last year, and they deserve their chance to take on the best players in the world at The Queen’s Club.”
Leon Smith, Aegon GB Davis Cup captain and Head of Men’s Tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association, said: “This is a great opportunity for Kyle and Dan to continue their excellent form in 2016, to move further up the rankings, and to test themselves against players at the highest level. James has had a difficult few months both on and off the court, but we know what he is capable of on grass, he played a massive role in Britain winning the Davis Cup last year, and we hope he can use the Aegon Championships to kick-start his year.”
Edmund, who led David Goffin by two sets to love before finally succumbing in the opening rubber of the Davis Cup final, has steadily climbed the rankings this year. He qualified and reached the quarterfinals in the ATP World Tour stop in Doha in the first week of the year on hard courts, and has reached three Challenger finals, winning two.
Evans reached No.86 in the world a week ago after back-to-back challenger finals in Taipei and Busan. It marked a rise of nearly 700 ranking places in a year, including a place in the main draw of the Australian Open after he fought through the qualifying rounds. Both Evans and Edmund will be direct entrants into Wimbledon this year for the first time.
Ward scored a huge win for Great Britain in the Davis Cup last year when he recovered from two sets down to defeat John Isner of the United States in five sets. Back in 2011, when he advanced to the final four of the Aegon Championships, Ward defeated Wawrinka along the way.
Tara McGregor-Woodhams, Head of Brand and Sponsorship Aegon UK at Aegon, said: “Kyle Edmund, Dan Evans and James Ward will all be crowd favourites at the Aegon Championships, and we are thrilled that they will join the strongest field of players in the event’s history in June.”
The Aegon Championships was voted Tournament of the Year in its category for the third consecutive year by the players in January, winning the award in its debut year as an ATP-500 event.
Six of the World’s Top 10
1. Andy Murray (2)
2. Stan Wawrinka (4)
3. Rafael Nadal (5)
4. Jo Wilfried Tsonga (7)
5. Milos Raonic (9)
6. Richard Gasquet (10)
For full entry list and tickets visit the official website.
