Former local British number one tennis stars Andrew Castle and Greg Rusedski are both looking forward to playing in the pre-Wimbledon BNP Paribas Tennis Classic at Hurlingham Club, Fulham this week.

Balham-based Castle, 51, who will once again lead the BBC commentary team for Wimbledon, is delighted to have two current Grand Slam champions in Stan Wawrinka (Roland Garros) and Marin Čilić (US Open) in this year’s pre-SW19 warm up event.

“It’s a fantastic line up this year,” he said.

“From the ATP side we have French Open Champion, Stan Wawrinka, Tomáš Berdych and US Open Champion, Marin Cilic to name a few and the legends confirmed include Goran Ivanisevic, Tim Henman and Mansour Bahrami. I think it’s going to be a really exciting summer event.

“It’s always such a tremendous atmosphere at The Hurlingham Club for the BNP Paribas Tennis Classic. Everyone - from the crowd to the players - is in a great mood and I’m really looking forward to returning again this year."

And Rusedski, 41, from Battersea, a US Open finalist in 1997, is looking forward to renewing his rivalry with the likes of Henman and Ivanisevic on the prestigious lawns of Hurlingham Club.

“The BNP Paribas Tennis Classic is a brilliant event for both the ATP players gearing up to Wimbledon and for the legends too,” he said.

“It’s always great to be reunited with old friends - of course, there’s still a bit of friendly rivalry between us all."

Kei Nishikori, Grigor Dimitrov, Gaël Monfils and Borna Ćorić will also be making their final pre-Wimbledon preparations at this event.

For ticket information contact IMG on 020 8233 5854.