sports
Sell-out crowds and joy: how Queen’s Club women’s tournament outshone the men
Serena Williams’ appearance plus Raducanu and Boulter doing so well put the men’s event in the shade this year
TL;DR
- Queen's Club experienced long queues at Barons Court station on the first day, highlighting popular attendance.
- General sale tickets for the men's event sold out quickly but featured a weak field with only one top 10 player due to an injury crisis on the men's tour.
- The women's event was highlighted by Serena Williams' return to doubles, though her partner suffered an injury.
- British players Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu achieved significant success, reaching the semi-finals and a major final respectively.
- The LTA is commended for bringing women's tennis back to Queen's after a 52-year absence.
- The women's tournament sold over 70,000 tickets, operating at 98% capacity for most of the week.
- Prize money for the women's tournament increased by over a third, making it the second highest for a WTA 500 event.
- The men's tournament prize money also increased, but the gap with the women's event narrowed significantly.
- The women's Queen's Club tournament is seen as having completely overshadowed the men's event in certain ways.
- The goal is to establish the women's tournament as a self-sufficient staple of the British summer sporting calendar.