Maria Sharapova and Andy Murray could play at the same grass court tournament in Eastbourne under plans to save the event and revamp the British tennis summer.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has announced it wants to combine the existing women's tournament at Devonshire Park with the men's event in Nottingham to provide a showpiece competition in Sussex in the week before Wimbledon.

Historically, the Eastbourne tournament has attracted stars like Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Jana Novotna, Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin, and for most of the past 25 years it has been broadcast on television.

But the LTA had revealed plans to switch it to London from 2009.

A £650,000 loss was shouldered by the organisers last year despite record attendance figures and main sponsor Hastings Direct withdrew its £350,000 backing in 2006.

Nottingham, a low-tier event on the ATP calendar, relies heavily on boosting box office appeal with "wildcard" invitations to top players who lost in an early round the previous week at Queen's Club.

Last summer, Lleyton Hewitt and Tim Henman only signed up to play in Nottingham after being beaten in London.

It is understood the LTA explored the possibility of having women players join the men at Queen's Club next summer after the Artois beer company announced its 30-year sponsorship would end in June.

But this was ruled out due to the size of the venue and the difficulty of organising a date with the ATP and WTA, the governing bodies for men's and women's tennis.

Instead, the LTA has proposed this new event with Devonshire Park, near the seafront, the preferred location. The plan would be to have a 32-draw for men and women.

Sharapova has yet to appear at Eastbourne but has not ruled out the possibility of playing on the South Coast, while an early exit at Queen's Club could mean Murray travelling to Eastbourne.

An ATP spokesman said: "The blueprint build for the tour, for the fans, is to have top players, men and women, at top events so this proposal (of combining Nottingham and Eastbourne) fits our strategy."

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