The Artois Championships Celebrates 30th Anniversary

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The Artois Championships celebrates its 30th birthday in 2008 with a typically strong field of players and capacity crowds.

The tournament began in 1979, with John McEnroe winning the first of four singles titles (he also won the doubles event with compatriot Peter Rennert in 1982).

The roll of honour features many of the sport's most famous names. McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras and Lleyton Hewitt have all held the Artois and Wimbledon winners' trophies aloft in the same year.

McEnroe reached the final in each of the tournament's first six years, and on five of those occasions he went on to reach the Wimbledon final.

"I had a great run, reaching all of those finals in a row, and it was always a great stepping stone for me to get ready for Wimbledon," said McEnroe.

"The grass courts, when I played there, were even better than Wimbledon. The times that I did well at Wimbledon coincided with me doing well at Queen's and so I always felt that it helped me quite a bit in preparing for Wimbledon."

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