Superstars of tennis are limbering up for their final chance to claim the world-famous Artois Championships title.

The 30th Artois Championships has attracted a top-ranking line-up including reigning French and Australian Open champions, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, plus Britain’s No 1 player, Andy Murray.

Other top players who will be challenging for the prestigious title include four-time Artois winners, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt along with former Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian who is making his tournament debut.

The premium nature of the tournament reinforces the credentials of the Stella Artois brand to a key audience of consumers during the busy summer period.

The event has been a highlight of the British sporting and social calendar for three decades and has helped to underpin the dramatic sales success of the brand during that period. When the first tournament took place back in the summer of 1979, Stella Artois was a niche brand with a “cult” following and the surprise winner, John McEnroe, was an unknown teenager from New York.

Now, Stella Artois is the No 1 premium lager in the on-trade and the No 1 alcoholic drinks brand in the take home market – and McEnroe is an international sporting legend.

Over that 30-year period, the Stella Artois brand has invested more than £50 million in tennis, associated activation and promotional funding.

InBev UK and The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) announced in March that they had reached an amicable decision to conclude the sponsorship.

The 30th and final tournament takes place from June 9-15 at The Queen’s Club, London, and will benefit from heavyweight media coverage with the BBC acting as host broadcaster providing over 30 hours of coverage over the seven days. Latest news and score updates will be available from www.artoischampionships.com

Media coverage of the event will build on consumer awareness created by an intensive poster and digital advertising campaign running during April and May. The campaign reinforced positive consumer perceptions of Stella Artois which already leads all other lager brands in terms of product quality and “being worth paying more for”, according to independent consumer research.¹

¹ Source: Brand Performance Tracker, Synovate/January 2008.