- The purse for the Championship will be £53.5m, up seven per cent on last year
- The biggest gainers will be the men’s and women’s singles champions
Tennis stars who fall at the first hurdle at this year’s Wimbledon are set for a healthy windfall after prize money was increased.
As tennis players continue to bang the drum for more cash, Wimbledon have announced the prize money for their singles champions will cross the £3million barrier for the first time.
The total purse for the Championships will be £53.5million, up seven per cent on last year. The biggest gainers will be the men’s and women’s singles champions – who see an 11.1 per cent increase from £2.7m to £3m – and the first-round losers.
Those falling at the first hurdle will be compensated with £66,000, a 10 per cent increase on last year and more than triple the amount given to Bjorn Borg for winning the title in 1980.
The overall prize money has doubled in the last 10 years, although the seven per cent increase is lower than the 11.9 per cent just from 2023 to 2024.
The increases come against the backdrop of a meeting, held in Paris during the French Open, between Grand Slam supremos – including Wimbledon’s CEO Sally Bolton – and a group of the top players who were demanding more cash.
The lawsuit filed by the Novak Djokovic-backed Professional Tennis Players’ Association, which names Wimbledon as a ‘co-conspirator’, has stirred up a hornet’s nest in tennis.
Wimbledon announced the prizemoney for singles champions will cross the £3million barrier
The total purse for the Championships will be £53.5million, up seven per cent on last year
One of the main tenets of the lawsuit is the belief that players are significantly underpaid compared to other sports.
The meeting between top players and Grand Slam chiefs, while not directly linked to the lawsuit, comes as a consequence of the issue of prizemoney being thrust into the limelight.
But Wimbledon chair Debbie Jevans said: ‘The focus on prizemoney at the Grand Slams does not get to the heart of what the challenge is with tennis. The challenge is the fact that the players don’t have an off-season, they have increasing injuries.
‘But as a tennis player, they’re always going to, I think, ask for more money.’
