(Reuters) -Women's players will receive equal prize money to their male counterparts for competing at Queen's Club and Eastbourne by 2029, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) said on Thursday.
The women's event will return to the Queen's Club Championships this year for the first time in over half a century.
The prize money for the women's event will be $1.415m, the highest for a WTA 500 event of its draw size on the tour, but still less than half of the men's prize money of 2.5 million euros ($2.87 million).
In a statement, the LTA said it would "fully close the gap between WTA and ATP prize money at these events no later than 2029.
"This year the WTA 500 prize money at the (Queen's Club) Championships will rise to a record $1.415m...
"Whilst the WTA 250 prize money at the Eastbourne Open will rise to $389,000 – making this the highest paying WTA 250 event anywhere on the tour."
The Queen's Club women's event will be held in the first week of the grasscourt season from June 9-15 and will feature Australian Open champion Madison Keys, former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina and 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu.
The WTA 250 event in Eastbourne will take place from June 23-28, in the week before Wimbledon.
"We are making significant increases this year to the women's prize money at Queen's and Eastbourne and want to achieve equal prize money as soon as possible," LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd said in a statement.
"The LTA is committed to growing women’s tennis, both at professional and grass-roots level and this move is an important part of that commitment."
On Thursday, Japanese four-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and world number three Jessica Pegula of the United States withdrew from the Queen's Club Championships.
($1 = 0.8701 euros)
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)
