The grass court season begins after the completion of the clay court season at Roland Garros, aka the French Open. Since players look to fine tune themselves for a different turf, they look forward to compete in tournaments of the same surface. The Hurlingham Tennis Classic is one such warm-up event for professional athletes before Wimbledon.
Wimbledon is a grass court slam that is played on perennial rye grass. The Hurlingham Tennis Classic features the same type of grass and hence if often preferred by leading athletes. This event does not feature any ranking points as it is not a part of the professional tennis tour on both the men’s (ATP) and women’s side (WTA).
The Hurlingham Tennis Club was first established in 1869. It is spread across a massive area of 42 acres. While the type of grass draws on-court similarities to Wimbledon, the off-court treatments offered to players also draw parallels. Be it premier hospitalities or the presence of celebrities, players get a good trailer for Wimbledon with the elite facilities.
The Hurlingham Tennis Classic has a specific dress code for the players. They call it the “summer chic.” Unlike Wimbledon, this tournament has no restrictions on the color of the apparel.
Each year, professional tennis players play each other in exhibition singles matches. The order of play is such that an exhibition by the active players is followed by a doubles match between legends or retired tennis players.
The event was initially sponsored by BNP Paribas. But in 2022, Giorgio Armani took over as the title sponsorship. The Hurlingham Tennis Classic is also known as the home of the Wimbledon Ball and promises to be an ideal event for gearing up for the grass court Major.
