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Home  » Sports » Wimbledon the richest Grand Slam but prize money rises slow

Wimbledon the richest Grand Slam but prize money rises slow

April 28, 2015 19:10 IST
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Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning the men's singles title at the 2014 Wimbledon. Photograph: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

The prolific acceleration in the size of the overall prize money pot at Wimbledon is slowing but the grasscourt championships remains the richest of the four Grand Slams.

All England Club officials on Tuesday announced a seven percent overall rise, down from 10.5 percent last year, meaning overall prize money has surged by an eye-popping 152 percent since 2011 to 26.75 million pounds.

That figure is just ahead of the US Open's prize pool.

The latest round of increases, unveiled by All England Club chairman Philip Brook at a news conference, means the singles champions will each pocket 1.88 million pounds compared to the 1.76 million handed to Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova in 2014.

Prize money for the singles competitions has risen eight percent on last year.

Brook said the rapid rises in prize money for first round losers had slowed, however, with those players failing to survive a round of the singles taking home 29,000 pounds.

The French Open recently announced a 12 percent increase in total prize money, taking it to $29.61 million.

Last year's US Open had total prize money of $38 million.

"Without the world's best tennis players we wouldn't have the world's best tennis tournament," Brook told reporters.

"This level of prize money is affordable for the championships and we feel we should reflect that in what we pay the players."

This year's tournament begins a week later than usual on June 29, reflecting the All England's Club's drive to create a longer grasscourt season following the French Open.

The three-week build-up to the championships will feature new ATP grasscourt events in Stuttgart and Nottingham and a new WTA event in Nottingham while the Queen's Club and Halle tournaments have been bumped up to ATP 500 status.

A new WTA grasscourt tournament will start in Mallorca next year.

Evolution of prize money at Wimbledon

Factbox on Wimbledon prize money since 1968 after it was announced on Tuesday that each singles winner will receive 1.88 million pounds ($2.87 million) from a total prize fund of 26.75 million pounds at the 2015 event.

Total prize money for the tournament has risen seven percent from the 25 million pounds on offer in 2013.

Year Men's Singles (in Pounds)
Womens' Singles (in Pounds)
1968 2,000 750
1969 3,000 1,500
1970 3,000 1,500
1971 3,750 1,800
1972 5,000 3,000
1973 5,000 3,000
1974 10,000 7,000
1975 10,000 7,000
1976 12,500 10,000
1977 15,000 13,500
1978 19,000 17,100
1979 20,000 18,000
1980 20,000 18,000
1981 21,600 19,400
1982 41,667 37,500
1983 66,600 60,000
1984 100,000 90,000
1985 130,000 117,000
1986 140,000 126,000
1987 155,000 139,500
1988 165,000 148,500
1989 190,000 171,000
1990 230,000 207,000
1991 240,000 216,000
1992 265,000 240,000
1993 305,000 275,000
1994 345,000 310,000
1995 365,000 328,000
1996 392,500 353,000
1997 415,000 373,500
1998 435,000 391,500
1999 455,000 409,500
2000 477,500 430,000
2001 500,000 462,500
2002 525,000 486,000
2003 575,000 535,000
2004 602,500 560,500
2005 630,000 600,000
2006 655,000 625,000
2007 700,000 700,000*
2008 750,000 750,000
2009 850,000 850,000
2010 1,000,000 1,000,000
2011 1,100,000 1,100,000
2012 1,150,000 1,150,000
2013 1,600,000 1,600,000
2014 1,760,000 1,760,000
2015 1,880,000 1,880,000

(* NOTE: From 2007 Men and women earned the same)

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