Former champion Rafael Nadal has confirmed that he will play in June’s ATP Aegon Championships.
The 29-year-old has endured mixed success at the prestigious tournament, hosted at The Queen’s Club in London. In 2008 he won the tournament after defeating Novak Djokovic in the final. Since his 2008 triumph, the Spaniard has only played in the tournament three times. Last year he made his first appearance in four years, suffering a shock first round loss to Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov. Despite his disappointing performance last year, Nadal said that he was looking forward to the tournament in a statement.
“I love playing at The Queen’s Club and I am very happy that I will be back this year,” said Nadal. “I will never forget winning the title in 2008, it was a special moment, and going on to win my first Wimbledon. It is a very important tournament, very well organised and on some of the best grass courts in the world. Holding that trophy again would be amazing although I am well aware of the difficulties because the tournament always has so many good players. With Wimbledon just one week after, it is also important to be playing at Queen’s because it offers the perfect conditions and allows me to be with the British fans who always have given me great support.”
Nadal has won 67 titles in his career, however, only four of them have been on grass. His last grass court triumph occurred at the 2015 Stuttgart Open when he defeated Viktor Troicki in the final.
The tournament will get underway on June 13th, two weeks before the Wimbledon Championships. The tournament, which started in 1890, has been a regular feature on the ATP calendar since 1977.
Earlier this year Andy Murray also confirmed that he plans to return to the Aegon Championships. Murray, who is the current champion, will be bidding to win the title for a record fifth time.
