Tom Reeves previews the high-profile tournament…
Britain’s Andy Murray will join Rafael Nadal, Grigor Dimitrov and Stan Wawrinka as they compete at the Queen’s Club Championships in 2015.
The news comes as players enjoy an extended break between the French Open and the start of the grass court season.
Queen’s, currently promoted as The Aegon Championships, usually begins a day after the men’s final of the French Open and concludes on the following Sunday.
The Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, and the Aegon Classic in Birmingham also follows a similar schedule, providing the world’s most elite players, who remain hopeful of French Open and Wimbledon success, with the dilemma of choosing what tournament to compete in to complete the transition from clay to grass as quickly and effectively as possible in the build-up to SW19’s most famous tournament.
Murray, 27, has regularly competed at Queen’s and has won the tournament three times, most recently in 2013, before winning Wimbledon that same summer.
However, Roger Federer has not made an appearance at Queen’s since the Swiss signed a deal to attend the Gerry Weber Open for the rest of his career back in 2010.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Spanish ace Nadal were also absent at The Aegon Championships last year.
Whilst it appears the Serb will not return, Nadal will be at the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club this summer for the first time since 2011.
The Spanish world No 3 believes playing at Queen’s will aid his chances of Wimbledon glory after failing to progress the fourth round for three years in a row.
There will therefore be greater competition for the likes of Murray and defending champion Dimitrov, who beat Spaniard Feliciano Lopez as he captured his first ATP World Tour grass-court title last year to announce himself on the big stage.