ATP
No surprise: Wimbledon prize on the rise
Concerned Wimbledon bosses may have been hoping to shake off any player dis-satisfaction as they raised prize money for the Championships for champions by a healthy 20 per cent, trumpeted in a Thursday media conference..
The total prize purse for the grass-court major starting on June 29 will hit a record GBP 64.2 million (USD 85.8 million) with the men’s and women’s winner pocketing – before the crushing UK tax load – GBP 3.6 million (USD 4.8 million).
Club officials will have taken serious note of player complaints about the percentage of Grand Slam winnings payout which come to less than 20 percent of the overall take for majors which are now stretching into three-week marathons.
Talk of a player strike at Roland Garros never seriously materialised – but the sentiments are still running hot among players who feel they are being overlooked by events which have become lucrative cash cows for executives and the overall bottom line.
“I would hope the players would welcome it. It’s a significant amount of money,” All England Club chair Deborah Jevans said on Thursday, surely hoping to stage off any player industrial action – not unknown in Britain.
“We’ve demonstrated that we’ve looked at every round, including qualifying. My hope is that the players do recognize what a significant increase that this is.”
By way of mild protest, some leading players limited their time at pre-event media conferences to 15 minutes; the player discontent includes endorsements from the world no. 1s Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner.
Up to 20 leading players have been waiting for more than a year for a serious response to a protest letter written to tennis suits lamenting what they consider an unfair prize money split based upon massive tournament revenues.
Some emergency meetings were reportedly held in Paris, with only the Australian Open said to be siding with the players on the payout issue.
Wimbledon first round losers will win GBP 80,000 (USD 107,000), up more than a fifth from 2025; qualifiers will earn 25 per cent more than a year ago.
WImbledon may have a stronger legal argument – if it comes to that – as they donate 90 per cent of surplus monies from their event to the LTA national federation.
Main photo:- The Championships Wimbledon Jannik Sinner wins Men’s Singles Final beating Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) Roger Parker/ISF Ltd
Laver Cup debutant Lerner Tien showed he’s fast on the rebound as the American took inspiration from coach Andre Agassi to level the Laver cup score a 3-3 with a Saturday win in London over Flavio Cobolli.
Tien, at 20 a young gun on the Rest of the World side, defeated Italy’s Roland Garros finalist 6-3, 2-6, 10-7.
With Day 2 win counting two points each, the victory in 97 minutes put teammates Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz on level-pegging heading into their later singles tests against Europe.
World has won four of the previous five titles in the exhibition run by Roger Federer’s management group in honor of the Swiss icons tennis idol, Rod Laver..
Tien, who won the spring Geneva ATP title, said he has to make a major reset after losing the second set to Cobolli, fighting back to win the match tiebreak third set at the O2.
“I can reset pretty easily,” the No. 13 said. “In this format, the score does not matter so much. Everyone always had a chance.
“To put the second set behind me was pretty good.”
Tien dropped serve twice in the second set after winning the first. But his deciding set fightback made the difference for his side.
“I just went into lockdown, there are some moments where the ball if just there to go for it. It was still tough to get through.”
The youngster gave full credit to Agassi for his inspiration. “Andre has given me more knowledge than everyone combined. It’s good to have a voice like that on the sidelines encouraging you. It’s very helpful.”
Casper Ruud and Rafa Jodar combined to start and finish Friday’s opening stage of the Laver Cup as their victories sent Europe into a 2-1 lead over Rest of the World in London.
Norway’s Ruud began day 1 play with a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 10-8 defeat of Argentina Francisco Cerundolo while Spanish prodigy Jodar finished off the programme 6-2, 6-4 ovr Alexander Bublik in a winning debut at the team exhibition conceptualised by Roger Federer in 2017 to hour is tennis hero Rod Laver.
Jodar, who turned 20 only days ago, spent 84 minutes in adding a point for Europe coached by French legend Yannick Noah and earning his own 38th match win of this breakthrough season.
“It was a pleasure to represent Team Europe for the first time. I felt great on court. I played against a tough player… I think the atmosphere was great, so thank you everyone for coming” the winner said.
The unpredictable Bublik was unable to match it with the Spanish youngster ranked 14th
Jodar won eight of his final nine service points for the win. Jodar and Carlos Alcaraz combined for a one-two punch in the concluding doubles rubber, defeating Bublik and Taylor Fritz to end the day with a 3-1 European lead
Main photo:- Casper Ruud opens the scoring for Team Europe – ISF Ltd
Jannik Sinner on Friday announced another injury setback, with the world No. 1 withdrawing from the September start of the China Open in Beijing.
The Italian who has not played since defending his Wimbledon title in July, has been on the injury list ever since, missing the Masters events in Canada and Cincinnati and skipping the US Open.
Sinner won the Beijing event a year ago and could now be in doubt for the Shanghai Masters next month.
“Hello everyone, Jannik here,” Sinner posted on social media.
“I want to send the warmest greetings to the Chinese fans. I’m very sorry to announce that I won’t be able to play in Beijing this year.
“My knee is not there, where I would like [it] to be, and I am not ready to compete yet. But I will do everything possible to be there on court as soon as I can.
“What I miss the most is, of course, the tournament, the fans, and the atmosphere. I’ve had a great, great time in the past, winning the title also last year, and I’m very disappointed that I cannot defend it this year, but I’m very happy to come back next year.
“So I wish everyone a very good tournament and I’ll see you all very soon on court again.”
This season has been a roller coaster for the 24-year-old who won five Masters 1000 titles in a row in 2026: Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome.
Main Photo:- Jannik Sinner won Beijing trophy in 2023. – by ISF Ltd
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