Wimbledon Prize Money Soars to Record £50 Million, Singles Champions to Earn £2.7 Million

Wimbledon's total prize money fund has witnessed a significant increase, reaching a record-breaking 50 million pounds (approximately $64 million). This represents a 5.3 million pound ($6.8 million) increase from last year, marking an impressive 11.9% growth. Notably, this amount is double the 25 million pounds ($32 million) awarded to competitors at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament a decade ago.

The winners of the men's and women's singles titles will each receive a substantial 2.7 million pounds ($3.45 million), a jump of 350,000 pounds ($450,000) or 14.9% from the previous year. Players who lose in the first round of singles will also see an increase in their prize money, with each receiving 60,000 pounds (about $76,000), up from 55,000 pounds ($70,000) in 2023.

The prize money for the qualifying event has also been boosted by 14.9%, reaching 4.8 million pounds (about $6 million).

In addition to the prize money announcement, the All England Club, which hosts Wimbledon, addressed several other topics:

* Domestic Violence Policy: The club has been in discussions with other Grand Slam hosts about the possibility of creating a domestic violence policy. "Clearly that's something that the sport would want to do on a unified basis," said Sally Bolton, the club's chief executive.

* Andy Murray's Retirement: The club has plans in place to celebrate two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray's career if, as expected, he announces this will be his last appearance at the tournament. "We've certainly got plans in place and we’re ready and prepared, but ultimately it's Andy’s decision," said Bolton.

* Centre Court Start Time: Centre Court will continue to begin play at 1:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. EDT), despite concerns expressed by Novak Djokovic that such scheduling inevitably leads to late starts for a day's last match. "We’ve reviewed it, we’ve thought long and hard and looked at the data around length of matches and the trends that are occurring in that space," said Bolton, "and were very confident and happy with the decision that we’ve made this year.”

Tags: #Wimbledon, #Tennis, #PrizeMoney, #GrandSlam, #AndyMurray