LONDON, June 17, 2019 (Press Release)
Five British players will contest the main draw of the 2019 Fever-Tree Championships after James Ward secured a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Ivo Karlovic in the final round of qualifying to join Kyle Edmund, Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans, and Jay Clarke.
The win for Ward over World No. 86 Ivo Karlovic marked the biggest win by ranking for the Brit since he reached the third round at Wimbledon in 2015.
Ward will now play Gilles Simon on Monday at the Fever-Tree Championships in the final match on Centre Court. The pair have met once before, with the Frenchman winning in straight sets in a 2015 Davis Cup tie at The Queen’s Club.
Ward will be joined in the main draw by Aljaz Bedene, Alexander Bublik, and Nicolas Mahut, who also came through qualifying on Sunday.
Cilic and Ferreira start partnership
The first round of this year’s tournament will get underway on Monday, headlined by defending champion Marin Cilic on Centre Court. Cilic announced on Sunday that he has added 1992 Queen’s Champion Wayne Ferreira to his coaching team for the 2019 grass court season.
“Ferreira is a thinker on the court and he’s produced incredible results throughout his career”, Cilic said. “He’s a super nice guy and so I feel that we will have an incredible connection.”
Cilic will face Cristian Garin in the second match on Centre Court, following the fourth seed Daniil Medvedev against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
Centre Court will also feature second seed Kevin Anderson against British No.2 Cameron Norrie. Kevin Anderson will make his return to competitive action, having not played a match since a quarter-final showing in Miami. Norrie will be aiming for his first ever win at The Queen’s Club.
On Court 1, Diego Schwartzman will play Alexander Bublik, and 2007 finalist Nicolas Mahut will take on last year’s quarter-finalist Frances Tiafoe.
Elsewhere on Sunday, it was announced that Andy Murray will begin his tournament on Wednesday. The five-time singles champion will take to the match court for the first time since his hip surgery earlier this year. Partnered by Feliciano Lopez, Murray will face the top-seeded duo of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.
