Top 10 ATP Tour 500 series events: where does Queen’s Club rank?
This week’s Barcelona Open marks the fifth ATP Tour 500 series event of the 2018 season. Here is our top 10.
10. Washington Open
Venue: William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center
Centre Court: 7,500
Surface: Hard (outdoors)
First held: 1969
Traditionally used by players as a warm-up event for the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open.
Naturally, it has always been a favourite for Americans with Andre Agassi (5), Andy Roddick (3), Jimmy Connors (3) and Michael Chang (2) all winning titles here.
However, the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic usually skip the event, but Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Juan Martin del Potro have entered in the past.
9. Halle Open
Venue: Gerry Weber Stadion, Halle (Westfalen)
Centre Court: 12,300
Surface: Grass (outdoor)
First held: 1993
A relatively new event as it has only been running for 25 years. It also shares the grass-court spotlight with the Queen’s Club event over in London as it takes place during the same slot.
Despite being a popular tournament since launching in in the early 90s, it was only upgraded to a 500 series event in 2015.
Federer is always the big drawcard as he uses it to prepare for Wimbledon and unsurprisingly he has won the most titles (9).
8. Dubai Tennis Championships
Venue: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Centre
Centre Court: 5,000
Surface: Hard (outdoors)
First held: 1993
Another of the new events on the Tour and it was only upgraded to a ATP 500 tournament in 2001. However, it has been able to lure some of the world’s best players in the last two decades with the likes of Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Stan Wawrinka often in the draw.
Federer has dominated with seven titles while Djokovic has won four titles.
Also, who can forget Federer and Andre Agassi’s famous match on a helipad on top of the Burj Al Arab Hotel in 2005?
7. China Open
Venue: National Tennis Center (Beijing)
Centre Court: 15,000
Surface: Hard (outdoors)
First held: 1993
A favourite for Novak Djokovic with the Serb winning six titles while he is also yet to lose a match at the Tokyo event. Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have also featured regularly, but obviously they haven’t enjoyed as much success as Djokovic.
It received its ATP Tour 500 status in 2009 and generally attracts the top players who use the event to prepare for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals.
6. Rotterdam Open
Venue: Ahoy Rotterdam
Centre Court: 15,818
Surface: Hard (indoors)
First held: 1972
It will forever be known as the place where Federer reclaimed the world No 1 ranking in February 2018. However, it has a long history dating back to 1972 when the great Arthur Ashe won the inaugural title.
The American went on to win another two titles in the Dutch city and he shares the record for most trophies with Federer while the likes of Stefan Edberg and Jimmy Connors have won two.
The tournament attracted 120,000 spectators in 2018 as fans snapped up tickets to watch Federer compete again after a five-year absence.
5. Swiss Indoors
Venue: St. Jakobshalle (Basel)
Centre Court: 9,000
Surface: Carpet (indoors)
First held: 1970
They should just go ahead and rename it the Roger Federer Swiss Indoors as he has won the tournament a record eight times. Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier, Ivan Lendle and a certain Tim Henman are also multiple winners.
It was originally part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit and later the ATP World Tour 250 series before being upgraded to an ATP Tour 500 event in 2009.
Although it is Federer’s home event, the likes of Nadal and Djokovic have made appearances here with the latter upsetting the local hero in the 2009 final.
4. Japan Open
Venue: Ariake Coliseum (Tokyo)
Centre Court: 10,000
Surface: Hard (outdoors)
First held: 1972
It’s been part of the ATP Tour 500 Series since 2009, but it has always been a popular tournament as it also fell under International Series Gold Championship Series and Grand Prix circuit before that.
Stefan Edberg dominated back in the day as he won four titles while Pete Sampras won three, but it is a little bit of a surprise that the likes of Nadal, Federer and Murray have won the trophy just once. Local hero Kei Nishikori was the last player to win multiple titles when he won his home event in 2014.
3. German Open
Venue: Am Rothenbaum, Hamburg
Centre Court: 13,200
Surface: Clay (outdoors)
First held: 1892
It is a bit sad that the German Open finds itself on this list as it used be known as the Hamburg Masters and was part of the ATP Masters 1000 Series until 2008. Before that it was fell under the ATP Super 9.
It was also historically part of the so-called Triple Crown that also included the Italian Open and French Open.
The likes of Ivan Lendl, Michael Stich, Marcelo Rios, Gustavo Kuerten, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have all won the title, but in recent years the top names have skipped it as it now takes place after Wimbledon.
2. Barcelona Open
Venue: Real Club de Tenis Barcelona
Centre Court: 8,400
Surface: Clay (outdoors)
First held: 1953
One of the key events in the build-up to the French Open and it is often a good indicator about players’ form heading to Roland Garros. It is the second biggest tennis tournament in Spain after the Madrid Masters and has been dominated by Nadal in recent years with the King of Clay winning 10 titles.
The likes of Roy Emerson, Ilie Nastase, Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander dominated here when they were at the peak.
An interesting stat is that Guillermo Vilas didn’t win a single Barcelona Open title despite appearing in four consecutive finals from 1980.
1. Queen’s Club Championships
Venue: Queen’s Club, London
Centre Court: 6,479
Surface: Grass (outdoors)
First held: 1890
It’s one of the oldest tennis events in the world and it is generally being considered the premier Wimbledon warm-up tournament.
Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray are some of the greats who have won the event. Murray has won the most singles titles with five while the likes of Emerson, McEnroe, Becker and Andy Roddick have all won four singles titles.
However, a major blight on its record is the fact that Roger Federer has never competed in the event as he usually opts for the Halle Open over in Germany while Novak Djokovic is another player who often skips the event.
Good news for tennis fans, though, is that Nadal, Murray and Grigor Dimitrov have all confirmed they will play in this year’s event, which will be known as the Fever-Tree Championships due to sponsorship rights.
The Rio Open, Mexican Open and Vienna Open are the three events that missed out.