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The History of The Stella Artois Championships

In 1977, Whitbread sponsored the men's tennis event at the Queens Club in London. Founded in 1886 and named after Queen Victoria, the Queens Club is thought to possibly have the best grass courts in the world. It wasn't until 1979 though, that Whitbread used their Stella Artois brand as the sponsorship name Stella Artois are still the current sponsors of this grass court championships, making this one of the longest running sports sponsorships that the UK has seen.

The cream of the men's tennis world has played in both the singles and doubles matches of The Stella Artois Championships. This has made The Queens Club Championships a must-see week of fantastic tennis, often throwing up some unexpected results and surprises. It also draws many kinds of people wishing to place a bet, from the novice to the experienced gambler. Past winners have included: John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras and dominating the last six years, with three wins each, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick.

The Stella Artois Championships is part of the ATP, the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuit. In the first year of The Stella Artois Championships, the prize money was £9,392 for the winner. 2005 saw the first prize standing at £55,517.

The Stella Artois Championships operates a raincheck policy and was the first to introduce this within British sport. When less than two hours play occurs on centre court due to rain, spectators of the game will receive a refund.

Here are some key events in the history of The Stella Artois Championships:

1979 This was the first of The Queens Club Championships to be sponsored by Whitbread's Stella Artois. The first winner of The Stella Artois Singles Championships was American John McEnroe, who was playing for the title against Victor Pecci. The singles final was postponed and played on the second Monday. The doubles were won by the Gullikson brothers who were pitted against Marty Riessen and Sherwood Stewart.

1983 Jimmy Connors beat John McEnroe to take his second consecutive title, making him the oldest Stella Artois Championship title holder at the age of 30. The score was an easy 6-3, 6-3. Both American players are well known for their on court outbursts as much as for their excellent tennis skills.

1985 The final was won by an unknown German player, Boris Becker, who at the age of seventeen became the youngest winner of The Stella Artois Championships. This caused quite a stir and made for a very exciting game. He also went on to win Wimbledon the same year.

1990 For the first time in the history of the Stella Artois Championships, all of the top four seeds reached the semi-finals. John McEnroe (seeded fourth) and Stefan Egberg from Sweden (seeded second) both lost their matches, which left Boris Becker (seeded third) to play in the finals against Ivan Lendl from Czechoslovakia (the top seed). Ivan went on to win 6-3, 6-2.

1992 This year saw the final played in the highest temperatures on record for The Stella Artois Championships finals. At 41 degrees Celsius, it pipped the 1986 and 1989 joint record by one degree.

1993 German Michael Stich played against Wayne Ferreira, to win 6-3, 6-4. The 19-game match took 57 minutes to complete; making it the shortest final played at The Stella Artois Championships.

1995 American Pete Sampras had an excellent year at Queens Club, when he won both the singles and doubles Stella Artois titles. In the singles, he won against the Frenchman Guy Forget, 7-6, 7-6. In the doubles final, Sampras played with fellow countryman Todd Martin against Jan Apell and Jonas Bjorkman. For the first time in the history of the Stella Artois Championships the doubles match was postponed until the second Monday. Martin and Sampras became the Championship winners. Neither had won a Stella Artois doubles final before.

1997 Mark Philippoussis from Australia won the singles final when he beat Croatian Goran Ivanisevic 7-5, 6-3. He also won the doubles when he teamed up with Patrick Rafter, becoming the second person to win both titles to date.

1998 Italian Laurence Tieleman played in the final against Australian Scott Draper who was ranked 108 in the world. Draper won 7-6, 6-4 but Tieleman set a record by being the lowest world ranked player at 253 to reach The Stella Artois Singles final.

1999 Pete Sampras won against Englishman Tim Henman, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6. The 36-game match took 151 minutes from start to finish becoming the longest final in The Stella Artois Championship history.

2004 Andy Roddick won in the quarter finals against Paradorn Srichaphan. Roddick set a world record for the fastest serve when it was recorded at 153 mph.

2005 Boris Becker was to play John McEnroe in a special match to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his 1985 win at age 17. Due to Becker having had recent knee surgery, Goran Ivanisevic took his place and won the pro-set match 9-7, giving him his first taste of victory at The Queens Club Championships.

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