LONDON — Amid professional tennis players’ calls for a bigger share of tournament revenues, Wimbledon announced Thursday that there will be 20% increases in total prize money and for the singles champions, who will earn 3.6 million pounds ($4.8 million) each at the grass-court Grand Slam next month.
The total prize money including player per diems will be 64.2 million pounds ($85.8 million), described as “by far” the biggest annual increase in the tournament’s history.
“I would hope the players would welcome it. It’s a significant amount of money,” All England Club chair Deborah Jevans said at a news conference.
“We’ve demonstrated that we’ve looked at every round, including qualifying. My hope is that the players do recognize what a significant increase that this is.”
Players have long been calling for a greater share of revenues from the four Grand Slams — the hard-court Australian Open and U.S. Open and the clay-court French Open in addition to Wimbledon — and recently began taking steps toward collective action.
For this year’s Wimbledon tournament, players advocated for total prize money of 71 million pounds ($95 million), Jevans said, citing her recent talks in Paris with Larry Scott, the former WTA CEO who has been advising the players.
Ahead of the French Open, Aryna Sabalenka, the top-ranked singles player on the WTA Tour, said players should at some point organize a boycott if their demands aren’t met. Jannik Sinner — who is No. 1 on the ATP Tour for men — women’s star Coco Gauff and others also spoke out.
Then, in news conferences at Roland Garros ahead of the French Open, top-10 players limited their sessions with journalists to 15 minutes in symbolic protest of their share of the tournament revenue.
Just more than a year ago, 20 leading players signed a letter to the heads of the four Grand Slams seeking more prize money and a greater voice in decision making.
Wimbledon, the oldest Grand Slam tournament, begins June 29. Iga Swiatek is the reigning champion in women’s singles, while Sinner won the 2025 trophy in men’s singles.
First-round prize money this year will be 80,000 pounds ($107,000), which is a 21% increase over 2024, and the qualifying rounds will have a total increase of 25%.
The runner-up in men’s and women’s singles will get 1.8 million pounds ($2.4 million) each. That’s an 18% increase over last year.
Jevans added: “This announcement recognizes the success of the Championships, and that we operate a sustainable program that allows us not only to increase prize money but also to invest in facilities, the grass court season and support British and international tennis.”
Increasing prize money is a balancing act because 90% of any distributable financial surplus from Wimbledon goes to the Lawn Tennis Association, which is Britain’s governing body for tennis and padel.
The LTA works to increase participation in the sport, renovate courts, support elite player development and run grass-court tournaments in the buildup to Wimbledon.
For calendar year 2025, the LTA reported a 4% decrease in the Wimbledon surplus (48.6 million pounds or $65 million) compared to 2024, though the LTA’s total revenue was up 2% — in part, it said, because of the introduction of a women’s tour event at the Queen’s Club.
Serena hits roadblock at Queens Cub
Serena Williams’ much-hyped comeback to pro tennis at the Queen’s Club lasted just one match.
The 44-year-old American’s doubles partner, 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, was forced to withdraw from the grass-court tournament Thursday because of a knee injury she sustained in a singles match against Karolina Pliskova in the round of 16 on Wednesday.
In her first professional match since the 2022 U.S. Open, Williams teamed up with Mboko to beat third-seeded duo Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6 (2), 6-2 on Tuesday. They were scheduled to face Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund in the quarterfinals at the London venue.
Williams is set to play doubles at the Berlin Open next week. Her partner has yet to be announced, though British newspaper The Times of London reported it was Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic.
Williams won 23 Grand Slam singles titles — including seven at Wimbledon — before stepping away from the game, saying at the time she was “evolving” away from tennis rather than “retiring.”
She also won 14 Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles, including six at Wimbledon — all with her older sister Venus Williams — and two more major championships in mixed doubles with Max Mirnyi.