TICKETS for the AEGON Ilkley Trophy – the highest-ranking tournament to be held in Yorkshire – will be on sale from next Thursday at 10am.

The men's and women's tournaments, which made tremendous debuts last year, will be held at Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club from Saturday, June 11 to Sunday, June 19.

With grass-court preparation for Wimbledon at a premium, the AEGON Ilkley Trophy attracted an entry that was better than that for bigger Challenger tournaments and was comparable to a lower-level main ATP Tour or WTA Tour event.

As a consequence, the club have already allocated 400 more seats following last year's sell-out, and the tournament has been nominated in the Event of the Year category at tonight's Bradford Sporting Awards at the Bradford Hotel.

Ticket demands for the AEGON Ilkley Trophy, whose courts were praised by players and fans alike, are expected to be high, and the tournament wants to go up several notches this year, as witnessed by the improvements that have already been made at the club in preparation for this summer.

ILTSC general manager Charlie Maunder said: “Having had a phenomenal inaugural tournament in 2015, hosting some of the world's finest up-and-coming players, we are ready to host a much bigger and better tournament in 2016."

The tournament has certainly been a springboard for players to achieve bigger and better things.

Men's singles winner Denis Kudla reached the last 16 at Wimbledon before taking a set off US Open winner Marin Cilic.

Ilkley women's singles winner Anna-Lena Friedsam (Germany) won through to the fourth round of the recent Australian Open and was on the verge of reaching her first Grand Slam quarter-final.

The 22-year-old was leading fourth seed Agnieska Radwanska (Poland) 5-2 in the final set before being afflicted by cramp in both legs and making a tearful and painful exit by 6-7, 6-1, 7-5.

Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.theticketfactory.com/ltaci/online/.