World number 19 Kevin Anderson headlines the field as the Aegon Open Nottingham announces the full entry list for the tournament, which runs from June 18 to the 25th.

The ATP Tour bids farewell to Nottingham

The ATP 250 event boasts a strong field, featuring 16 of the world's current top 50 players, as the British city hosts an ATP event for the last time follow. This follows the LTA's announcement that from 2017 the current ATP 250 event will move back to Eastbourne as they seek to improve the British summer grass court season.

In the plans for the new 2017 calendar, the LTA, in partnership with the Nottingham City Council will stage one week of tennis events from the 19th to the 25th of June, the week before the Aegon Championships at The Queen’s Club. As a result, this will allow the city’s fans to see men’s and women’s tour-level tennis in the same week for the first time since 1973.

Anderson, Istomin, Baghdatis and Dolgopolov lead the field

Nottingham's top seed and former top 10 player Anderson is a very accomplished player on grass. The big-serving, 6 foot 8 South African reached the final at Queen's Club last year, as well as reaching the last 16 at Wimbledon, where he pushed the defending champion Novak Djokovic all the way to five sets.

Denis Istomin - The champion's delight. Photo: Getty
Denis Istomin - The champion's delight. Photo: Getty

The defending champion Denis Istomin returns 12 months on from when he captured his maiden ATP Tour title. After defeating the American Sam Querrey (who also returns) in the final last year, the Uzbekistani will be hoping to create more special memories and to hold on to his crown.

Crowd favorite, Marcos Baghdatis will also return to the city where he reached the semifinals last year. On that occasion, he had to retire through injury, but the former Wimbledon semifinalist will be hoping to entertain the spectators once again in 2016.

Alexandr Dolgopolov also reached the semifinals in Nottingham last year and the former world number 13 has proven himself to be more than capable of producing his best tennis on grass after upsetting Rafael Nadal at Queen's Club last year. The Ukrainian will be a strong contender for the title again this year.

The Brits are back

Three of the men who helped guide Great Britain to their historic Davis Cup triumph will be gracing the courts at the Nottingham Tennis Centre this summer. British number three Kyle Edmund has enjoyed a great season so far having qualified for the Australian Open back in January and even had the chance to play the world number one in Miami. The Brit will certainly be looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd.

Having recently broken into the world's top 100 for the first time, Dan Evans will be making his debut at the event as he looks to build on his career high ranking following recent triumphs in ATP Challenger events. James Ward will also compete as part of his preparation before he defends his points he obtained by making the third round at SW19 last year.

Other players to look out for at the event in June include the only player to have defeated Djokovic this year, Jiri Vesely, young American rising star Taylor Fritz and big-hitting Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

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About the author
Joshua Coase
2nd Year Multimedia Journalism Bournemouth University, UK - Accredited Journalist for VAVEL USA Tennis and writer for VAVEL UK AFC Bournemouth section.