BBC Sport Extended Queens Club tennis to 2018
The BBC has made a deal to continue broadcasting the Queen’s Club tennis tournament, the traditional pre-Wimbledon warm-up, for a further five years. This follows the news that British Number 1 star Andy Murray pledges to appear at the event until 2015.
BBC Sport announced last year that they would continue hosting the showcase Wimbledon championships till atleast 2017. This is one in a very few elements of good news for the BBC Sport deparment as they have reduced or lost rights to sports since being hit with a 15% budget cut after the licence fee freeze. In tennis the BBC reduced their Australian open coverage to one semi final and both finals only this year, and also lost the French Open rights to ITV.
Andy Murray has won the Queen’s club twice in 2009 and 2011, however hasn’t won a major yet. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who Murray beat in last year’s final, 2009 US Open champion Juan Martín Del Potro and four-time Queen’s Club champion Andy Roddick, will play in this year’s event on 11 June.
The BBC have Broadcast the Queen’s Club competition since 1979.
