Wimbledon champions to receive over $4M as prize money up 7%

Wimbledon has increased its prize money for this year’s championships to 53.5 million pounds ($72.59 million), a 7% increase on 2024 and double what was offered a decade ago, the All England Lawn Tennis Club said Thursday.

The singles champions will receive 3 million pounds ($4.07 million) each, the highest across all Grand Slams and a 11.1% increase on the prize money that Carlos Alcaraz and Barbora Krejcikova took home last year.

Singles players who lose in the first round will receive 66,000 pounds, a 10% increase over 2024. Doubles prize money has also increased by 4.4%, mixed doubles by 4.3% and the wheelchair and quad wheelchair events by 5.6%.

The increase comes after the world’s top players called for significant improvements in prize money at the four Grand Slams as a way to ensure a more equitable distribution of revenue.

“We have listened to the players. We have engaged with the players,” AELTC chair Deborah Jevans said. “But the focus on just the prize money at the four events, the Grand Slams, does not get to the heart of what the challenge is with tennis.

“The challenge with tennis is the fact that the players don’t have an offseason, which they want; they have increasing injuries that they’re speaking about.”

Jevans said Wimbledon is willing to engage with the tours to try to find solutions, but there has not been any proposal as to how the tour is able to change its structure.

Final at 4 p.m.

The AELTC said the doubles finals on July 12 and 13 would start at 1 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET) with the singles finals at 4 p.m.

That could potentially change the playing conditions — such as having the roof closed and the lights switched on — if the singles finals run long and well into the night.

The French Open men’s final Sunday, when Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner, lasted 5 hours, 29 minutes, but AELTC CEO Sally Bolton said the change in timing would ensure an “improved experience” for all.

“Whether that’s the doubles finalists having greater certainty over their schedule, whether it’s the fans having the opportunity to experience a day which builds to the crescendo of the singles finals or ensuring that we have our champions crowned in front of the widest possible audience,” she said.

No line judges

This year’s championships also mark a break with an age-old tradition as line judges will be replaced for the first time with the electronic line calling system that is in place at tournaments worldwide.

Bolton said “the time is right to move on,” adding that many line judges would return in different roles as match assistants, with two assigned per court.

“They’re extra eyes and ears, the assistant to the chair umpire … we’ve got about 80 of those across the Championships,” Bolton said. “They’ll also provide one of the parts of our resilience in the event that the electronic line calling system goes down at any point in time.”

Source: espn.com