Djokovic, Nadal and Murray Headline 30th Artois Championships

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The newly crowned Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, the World No.2 Rafael Nadal and Britain's top ranked player Andy Murray will all contest the 30th Artois Championships when the prestigious grass court tournament takes place at The Queen's Club in London, June 9-15, 2008.

Djokovic rose from No.16 in the world at the end of 2006 to No.3 at the conclusion to the 2007 season. The 20-year-old Serb reached the semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon before rampaging to the US Open final last September. He then began 2008 in perfect style, claiming his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne.

Nadal has been the No.2 player in the world without a break since July 2005. The Spaniard has played at the Artois for the past two years before going on to reach the Wimbledon final three weeks later on both occasions. Known for his clay court dominance, with three French Open titles and an 81-match winning-streak to his name, Nadal has shown that his game is completely adaptable to the demands of grass.

Bjorn Borg, who won six French Open titles and five Wimbledon Championships, is certainly convinced.

"Nadal can play on any surface," said Borg. "If I would pick a winner for Wimbledon in 2008 I would pick Nadal. He knows he can play on grass now and he knows he can win on it. He's a great player and a great person."

The Spaniard will have his work cut out at the Artois, particularly with Murray also set to play. The Scot was forced to withdraw from last year's event after sustaining a wrist injury in Hamburg that would keep him out of action for three months. He has returned to the Tour in full health in 2008, and will hope for his best ever performance at the tournament, having memorably reached the third round on his debut in 2006. His 6-7(1) 7-6(5) 5-7 loss to Thomas Johansson announced him as a player to watch, and he has since gone on to top the British rankings and infiltrate the world's top ten.