A new grass court calendar for 2025

The purpose of the review has been to raise the profile and visibility of tennis in Britain during the run up to The Championships at Wimbledon.

The plans unveiled today will offer more fans the opportunity to watch professional tennis, particularly women’s tennis, both live and on television, whilst ensuring that there are the same number of playing opportunities for British and overseas players across the four-week period.

The new calendar of professional events for 2025 is being unveiled today and will:

• See high profile events at the start of the season to ensure maximum visibility for tennis
• Promote women’s tennis to a larger audience and raise its profile
• Ensure every tournament venue will host both male and female events

Changes to the 2025 grass court schedule

The 2025 grass court season will launch with a combined challenger level event at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham in the week of 2 June. It will be the first male and female combined event in professional tennis history in Birmingham.

The following week will see the return of a tour level women’s event in London for the first time in over 50 years, as The Queen’s Club plays host to a high-profile WTA 500 event. The traditional combined challenger level event at Ilkley will also take place this week. The exact classification of these challenger events will be confirmed in the coming months.  

The week of 16 June will see Queen’s host its hugely popular men’s ATP 500 tournament in the usual slot. Alongside this, the Lexus Nottingham Tennis Centre will host its women’s WTA 250 event and a men’s ATP 125 Challenger event.

The final week of the season before The Championships will see Devonshire Park in Eastbourne host a combined women’s and men’s WTA/ATP 250 in its traditional week, as players head to the coast before making their final preparations for a trip to Wimbledon.

The changes mean the mixed event in Surbiton, south-west London, will come to an end after 2024. The LTA would like to place on record its thanks to the Surbiton Racket and Fitness Club for their longstanding help in hosting this event.    

The arrangements for the 2025 British Open Wheelchair event will be confirmed closer to the time.

2025 grass court season calendar

Chris Pollard, LTA Director of Major Events and Digital, said: “This new calendar is an important step in increasing the visibility of our sport, particularly the women’s game. The changes mean we can deliver a high-profile women’s tour event in London for the first time in half a century. This will kick start interest in the sport at the beginning of the grass court season, meaning more public exposure for tennis in Britian, and more opportunities to inspire the next generation. We’re committed to protecting the geographical spread of our grass court venues and every venue will now host both men’s and women’s tennis, meaning more chances for fans to watch British players in action closer to them.”

The LTA and The Queen’s Club have been working closely together on plans to bring the Women’s event to the historic venue, and this work will continue over the coming year as arrangements for the 2025 season are finalised. The tournament’s temporary infrastructure will remain in place for a two-week period allowing for better usage from the investment in it.

Independent research and experience from other venues (including The Championships, Wimbledon) confirms that the grass will continue to offer an excellent playing surface in the second week at The Queen’s Club. 

Simon Greenwell, Chair of the Queen’s Club, said: “The Queen’s Club is delighted to be hosting a leading Women’s Tournament after a 52-year absence. The Queen’s Club Championships was first held at the Club in 1890 as a joint Men’s and Women’s event and, 135 years on, we are very proud to be hosting both WTA and ATP 500 Tournaments on our historic grass courts.”

Meanwhile the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham will host a combined challenger level event in the first week of the grass court season. This event will relocate from Surbiton, and often attracts a high-level field as players change surfaces, with Andy Murray and Dan Evans both winners of the men’s event in the past three years.

Carol Cole, Chair of the Edgbaston Priory Club, said: “We are proud to have hosted the WTA event at the club since 1982 and will be delivering another great event this year. Next year, we will look forward to staging the first ever men’s and women’s combined professional tournament in Birmingham. We know our fans will enjoy seeing the grass court season get off to an exciting start with male and female players competing together at Edgbaston Priory Club from 2025.”  

The LTA remains fully committed to maintaining a combined men’s and women’s tour level event at Devonshire Park in Eastbourne. The LTA will continue to work closely with Eastbourne Borough Council, and all local stakeholders, to ensure that it remains as popular with players and fans as ever, as well as retaining its unique charm.

The LTA also remains committed to taking professional tennis to different parts of Great Britian, with Manchester, Coventry and Glasgow all having staged major events in the past three years. Manchester will once again stage the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage in September this year.