Eastbourne Open

The Eastbourne Open entertains fans in Eastbourne, Great Britain, every year at the event, which also serves as the warm-up for the Wimbledon Championships.

The Eastbourne Open is one of the few mixed ATP and WTA events on the professional tennis schedule. Currently, the competition is ranked as a WTA 250 event for the women’s draw, and the ATP tournament also falls into the 250 category.

Each season, the men’s and women’s events take place on grass courts at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club. Because the Eastbourne Open is usually held a week before Wimbledon, many players head to the event for practice before heading to SW19.

The Eastbourne Open first took place in 1974, and the tournament was a women-only event before it combined with the ATP Tour in 2009. However, in 2015 and 2016, the Nottingham Open replaced the ATP event at Eastbourne until it returned again in 2017.

The history and prestige of the Eastbourne Open have led to several world-renowned female players winning the title in previous years. Between 1974 and 1979, American Chris Evert dominated the competition, winning it three times. But, Evert’s reign was disrupted by Martina Navratilova in the 1980s and 90s. Between 1978 and 1993, Navratilova won a record 11 titles at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club.

With a shorter history at Eastbourne Open, fewer male players have had the chance to build such a command in the competition. However, two players have won the tournament twice in recent years.

Former Spanish player Feliciano Lopez achieved success in Eastbourne as he won the title twice in 2013 and 2014. But American Taylor Fritz has equaled Lopez’s record in recent years. Fritz has won the Eastbourne Open twice between 2019 and 2022.