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