The Queen’s Club Tennis Championships are one of the highlights of the UK tennis season. Held at the Queen’s Club in West Kensington, London, the men’s professional event is held at the end of June and ranks as one of the six main men’s ATP tour events played on grass every year, one of the others being Wimbledon.
Since 2021, the tournament has been sponsored by online car marketplace cinch, and has been known as the cinch Championships since then. This year, the championships welcomed 17,000 fans a day to watch the action unfold across the Queen’s Club’s 28 pristine grass courts. After seven days of thrilling action, American Tommy Paul was crowned single’s champion, with home-grown contender Neal Skupkis triumphing in the doubles event with his New Zealand-based partner, Michael Venus.
And Radio Links was present to watch every point, every ace, every winning pass and volley as we supported tournament organisers with all the necessary comms equipment required to make such a prestigious event run smoothly.

The Challenge
The comms needs of a major sporting event like
the cinch Championships are considerable.  On the one hand, there’s safety, security and general event coordination to think about. With thousands of visitors attending every day, the tournament organisers have to hire a large team of stewards and security staff to help ensure everyone knows where they are going. 
To avoid interruptions and distractions for the players while matches are in play, and of course keep everyone safe at all times. Everyone involved in this side of operations, from stewards to security personnel to first aid teams to staff working on concessions stalls, needs a two-way radio, so everyone can keep in touch at all times across the 28-court venue. The Club needed to bring in a public address system. Loud speakers on all courts provide score and match updates, and also broadcast interviews with players and play music between matches to add to the overall event experience.

Our Solution
We were delighted to be asked to supply comms equipment for such a prestigious event as the Cinch Championships. Drawing on our extensive experience working at major sporting events, plus our unique range of communications equipment. We were more than happy to provide tournament organisers with everything they needed - plus the on-site support of our expert telecommunication engineers for the duration of the week.

In total, we hired out 18 types of two way radio to organisers, mostly from the Hytera PD and H series. Hytera PD radios have long been a reliable ‘work horse’ mobile comms option suitable for general use in all environments. Lightweight, easy to use and affordable, stand-out features across the range include the fact that all radios can operate in both analogue and digital modes, making them a great bridge between older and cheaper radios, and more feature-rich modern digital handsets. 

Hytera H series radios, meanwhile, are at the cutting edge of digital mobile radio (DMR) technology. Offering superior range, audio quality and packed with features, H series handsets connect seamlessly to other comms systems to break down silos in how and where people talk. We recommended H series radios with full screens and keypads as ideal options for coordinators, giving them a range of flexible options for keeping in touch with multiple teams at all times. 

We also supplied loud speakers, microphones, amplifiers and mixing desk equipment for the PA system. Along with the equipment, three experienced Radio Links engineers were fortunate enough to spend the week at the event - not just watching the tennis, but working hard at all times! One engineer was present in the control room to monitor and operate the sound mixing board. The other two engineers spent their time out on the courts making sure all the two way radios in use were working and all teams could communicate effectively. 

Our Long-Term Partnership with the LTA
We (Radio Links) have worked for the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) over 40 years, which includes the cinch Championships, Queen’s Club, Rothesay Classic at Edgbaston, and the Rothesay Open at Nottingham. This enduring relationship highlights our commitment to providing top-notch communication solutions and support for some of the most prestigious tennis events in the UK. Our deep understanding of the LTA’s requirements allows us to deliver seamless service and ensure the smooth operation of these high-profile tournaments.