LTA chief Scott Lloyd delivers huge blow to Eastbourne Tennis ahead of 50th celebrations

Eastbourne Tennis will celebrate their 50th year this summer amid concerns of a significant tournament downgrade.

The Lawn Tennis Association are in advanced discussions to stage a new women's event at Queens, in west London a week after the French Open and a week before the men's tournament.

Should this happen, Eastbourne would be downgraded to a WTA 250 event, which restricts the number of players from the world's top 30 to just three. Last year, loyal tennis fans at Devonshire Park enjoyed watching seven of the world's top 10 compete at Eastbourne.

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“The reality of that location [Eastbourne] is commercially limited to some degree,” said LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd. “Given we invest in that temporary infrastructure for Queen’s each year, we think we will be successful in selling out and giving the women’s event that level of visibility, which is greater.

“It’s not about looking to concentrate our tournaments in London, so to speak. We still absolutely support our other venues.”

Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce chief executive Christina Ewbank responded: “We urge the LTA to think of the players, who love playing in Eastbourne, and the jobs that will be lost if they move to London.

“Please don’t contribute to the two-tier economy of this country where London becomes ever richer and the rest of the country suffers.”

The Eastbourne tennis tournament was founded in 1974 and has been running for 50 years. Martina Navratilova holds the record for the most singles titles with 11. The likes of Chris Evert, Viginia Wade, Tracy Austin, Monica Seles, Justine Henin-Hardenne and Petra Kvitová have all triumphed at Devonshire Park over the years.