Wimbledon Increases Prize Money For 2017 At All Playing Levels

The time for Wimbledon, the third grand slam of the year is just around the corner and players are excited as Wimbledon has announced an increase in prize money for the 2017 Championship at all playing levels. The announcement for player seeding at the Championships will be announced on 28 June, the draw will be finalized on 30 June and the Championships will commence from 03 July.

Pete Sampras – who won 7 Wimbledon Championships during this time once said that the English believed that Wimbledon was the biggest tournament in the world and they were right in their assumptions. The tournament which is played on grass is one of the most coveted grand- slams and the 2017 Championships are very interesting because the playing field is very even in both the men’s and women’s singles, making it very possible for someone new to become Wimbledon champions.

Tennis players for most of the time have always campaigned for more money and Wimbledon has been one grand slam that has looked to make things better with every passing year. The prize money paid out to the winners in 2011 – Petra Kvitova and Novak Djokovic was £1.1 million.

Wimbledon

Fast forward to 2016 and the total prize money on offer was £28.1 million and the winners Serena Williams and Andy Murray received £2 million each.

The All England Club has once again increase the prize money in 2017 by £3.5 million and the eventual winners will now take home £2.2 million. The runner-up will receive £1.1 million and the semi-finalists will receive £550,000. The increase in prize money is being distributed across all playing levels and first round losers will see an increase of nearly 17 percent when compared to 2016 and will take home £35,000.

In a statement, Philip Brooks, All England Club chairman said

We are proud of the important leadership role that Wimbledon plays locally, nationally, and internationally, and are committed to continuing to invest to secure the future of The Championships, and of our sport, for the years to come.

The 2017 French Open had total prize money of €36 million and the winners were awarded €2.1 million each. As of now, the US open which is the fourth and final grand slam of the year has continued to be the biggest paymaster paying £2.65 million to the winners in 2016. However Wimbledon continues to be the highest payout for first round losers.