Boodles Challenge

The Boodles Tennis Challenge is an international five day tennis exhibition held at Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire, England initially founded by veteran sports agent Patricio Apey as an event to help players hone their grass court skills in the lead-up to Wimbledon. It is played in a similar style to the AAMI Classic giving the players at least three matches each and allowing non competition players to appear in one match per a day. Over recent years Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Tim Henman, Marat Safin, James Blake, Andy Roddick, Fernando González, David Nalbandian, Novak Djokovic, Fernando Verdasco, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Andy Murray have all appeared. Since its inception, The Boodles has turned into a lifestyle event featuring British luxury brands such as Boodles, Pommery, Chubb Insurance and Jaguar.

Often described as an elegant English summer party around world class tennis, attendances are strictly limited to 1500 people per day to ensure every guests has a quality view of both the tennis and the exquisite jewellery on display.

History

In its inaugural year of 2002, the Boodles and Dunthorne Champions Challenge (now The Boodles Tennis Challenge) quickly established itself as one of the ‘must attend’ summer social gatherings, giving guests the opportunity to mingle at close quarters with the world's tennis elite.

In only its second year the tournament saw Mark Philippoussis lifting The Boodles trophy before going on to appear in the Wimbledon final two weeks later.

In 2004, the Champions Challenge provided four days of riveting tennis, with Andy Roddick and Wimbledon Champion Goran Ivanišević entertaining the fortunate guests.

Due to the growing popularity ‘The Boodles’ saw a fifth day added in 2005 and an elite group of world-class players gathered to contest the title, including Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski and defending Wimbledon Champion Maria Sharapova. Andre Agassi's multiple appearances in 2006 were a highlight as he prepared for his farewell appearance at Wimbledon. With sell-out crowds in 2007, and appearances from world class performers Novak Djokovic and Fernando Verdasco, the event was clearly becoming a fixture in the calendar of the tennis elite.

The Boodles 2008 continued to deliver the high standards that are now expected of the showpiece Wimbledon warm-up event, showcasing arguably its strongest field to date. Guests were again treated as Andy Murray elected to complete his Wimbledon preparation at Stoke Park alongside his other Top 10 rivals, Novak Djokovic and David Nalbandian, all under the watchful eye of Alan Mills, Wimbledon referee for 23 years.

2009 proved once again that the world's top tennis stars regarded The Boodles as ideal for their SW19 preparations, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Nikolay Davydenko and Novak Djokovic competing on the Stoke Park lawns.

With four of the world's top ten players competing in 2010, tennis aficionados recognized the unique opportunity at The Boodles to get up close to their heroes with record crowds attending finals weekend. ATP World Tour champion Nikolay Davydenko, World Number 2 Novak Djokovic and Spanish heartthrob Fernando Verdasco competed admirably, with French sensation Gaël Monfils eventually lifting The Boodles trophy.

2011 celebrated The Boodles 10th Anniversary. With an exciting line-up of The Boodles' favourites, it was considered as one of the best years of this event. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Gaël Monfils and Viktor Troicki all competed, with World Number 6 David Ferrer eventually being crowned the winner.

The 2012 Boodles event will take place between 19 - 23 June.

2011 Matches and Results

Past Winners

External links

• Official website