The 2024 Cinch Championships is a long way away, but there are already some players confirming their participation, as Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton did.
The 2024 Cinch Championships will be a strong grass event, as it always is, and there will be a couple of Americans defending the star-spangled banner. The ATP 500 event is conveniently played in London, which is why many players have elected to play there.
It’s basically a Wimbledon tryout before Wimbledon begins, not long after that, and it’s the ideal event to test the conditions in London, which players will see at Wimbledon as well.
Many big players sign up, which the winners list from past years proves, and Shelton and Fritz will be there. It won’t be Shelton’s first time at the event because he played last year as well.
It wasn’t the greatest run for the American, but he was just starting out to play on grass, so obviously, it was something new for him.
“I’m really looking forward to being back at Queen’s. It’s an historic tournament and playing on the Centre Court there was one of the coolest experiences for me. I think the grass is unbelievable there. It was my first time playing on grass there last year so to win my first match – I wasn’t really expecting it. The fans are really into their tennis there and they get really loud.”
Fritz, on the other hand, doesn’t have much experience with the grass at the Queen’s Club. He won two grass trophies on British soil, but neither of those happened at the Cinch Championships.
He was successful at the Eastbourne International, which is an ATP 250 tournament, and this year, he’ll try to add also an ATP 500 grass-court trophy to his collection.
“I’m always excited to go back to Queen’s. It feels really historical – it’s a tournament I’d watch a lot as a kid on TV and the courts are just amazing. I think grass can be a great surface for me. Unfortunately, I haven’t quite had the results yet at Queen’s but this year I’m looking to change that.”
