The prize money for this year’s Wimbledon has been announced, with the world’s best tennis players set to compete for record sums. The All England Club confirmed the prize pool on Thursday, and those competing on the SW19 grass will play for a combined total of over £40million.
The prize pot will see each champion take home a record £2million along with the historic Wimbledon trophy. At the other end of the draw there is still plenty on offer, with the first-round singles losers earning a cool £50,000 for their efforts.
The 2022 prize pool sees an impressive 11.1% increase on what was on offer to those who competed 12 months ago in the pandemic-affected tournament, and 5.4% increase on the 2019 event.
This year’s tournament on the SW19 grass will go ahead without ranking points, after The All England Club were stripped of the privilege following their ban on Russian and Belarusian players from competing in response to Vladimir Putin ’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
There were initial fears that the famous Grand Slam event would struggle to attract a strong and competitive field due to the ranking issue. The increased prize pot though will no doubt prove pivotal in drawing players back over to London, ensuring that no-shows are not an issue come tournament day.
As well an increased purse for draw, those qualifying will also reap the benefits too. Even those who lose their match in the very first preliminary qualifying round will still walk away from the hallowed Wimbledon grass with an impressive £11,000 in prize money.
Discussing the prize pot, chairman of the All England Club Ian Hewitt said that the increase represents ‘how important the players are’ to the event. “From the first round of the Qualifying Competition to the Champions being crowned, this year's prize money distribution aims to reflect just how important the players are to The Championships,” he commented.
“We look to continue to deliver one of the world's leading sporting events, and with a particularly special tournament ahead of us as we celebrate 100 years of Centre Court on Church Road.”
