FILE PHOTO: Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 14, 2024 Spain's Carlos Alcaraz poses for a picture with the trophy after winning his men's singles final against Serbia's Novak Djokovic REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File Photo
(Reuters) -Wimbledon has increased its prize money for this year's championships to 53.5 million pounds ($72.59 million), a 7% increase on 2024 and double what they offered a decade ago, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) said on Thursday.
The singles champions will receive three million pounds ($4.07 million) each, the highest across all Grand Slams and a 11.1% increase on the prize money Carlos Alcaraz and Barbora Krejcikova took home last year.
Singles players who exit the first round will receive 66,000 pounds, a 10% increase on last year. Doubles prize money has also increased by 4.4%, mixed doubles by 4.3% and the wheelchair and quad wheelchair events by 5.6%.
The increase also comes after the world's top players called for significant improvements in prize money at the four Grand Slams as a way to ensure a more equitable distribution of revenue.
"We have listened to the players, we have engaged with the players," AELTC chair Deborah Jevans said.
"But the focus on just the prize money at the four events, the Grand Slams, does not get to the heart of what the challenge is with tennis.
"The challenge with tennis is the fact that the players don't have an off-season which they want, they have increasing injuries that they're speaking about."
Jevans added that Wimbledon is willing to engage and talk with the tours to try and find solutions but there has not been any proposal as to how the tour is able to change its structure.
FINAL AT 4 P.M.
The AELTC also said the doubles finals on the weekend would start at 1 p.m. local time and the singles finals at 4 p.m.
Such a change could potentially change playing conditions - like having the roof closed and the lights switched on - if the match runs long and well into the night.
The French Open final this month where Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner lasted five hours and 29 minutes, but AELTC chief executive Sally Bolton said the change in timing would ensure an "improved experience" for all.
"Whether that's the doubles finalists having greater certainty over their schedule, whether it's the fans having the opportunity to experience a day which builds to the crescendo of the singles finals or ensuring that we have our champions crowned in front of the widest possible audience," she said.
NO LINE JUDGES
This year's championships also marks a break with an age old tradition where line judges will be replaced for the first time with the electronic line calling system that is in place at tournaments worldwide.
Bolton said "the time is right to move on", adding that many line judges would return in different roles as match assistants, with two assigned per court.
"They're extra eyes and ears, the assistant to the chair umpire... We've got about 80 of those across the Championships.
"They'll also provide one of the parts of our resilience in the event that the electronic line calling system goes down at any point in time."
($1 = 0.7370 pounds)
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru;Editing by Christian Radnedge)
