Wimbledon announces record £34m prize-pot

By Daily Sports on May 2, 2018

Wimbledon announced a hefty £34 million prize-pot on Tuesday, along with a new sustainability project aimed at ensuring it is not just the grass courts that remain green at the All England Club.

Organisers of the oldest grand slam tournament revealed the prize fund, the equivalent of $46.57 million, for the 2018 championships, up 7.6 percent from last year.

That figure includes awards of £2.25 million each for the men’s and women’s champions – an increase on the £2.2 million Roger Federer and Garbine Muguruza received in 2017.

Wimbledon’s 2018 prize money eclipses the 55 million Australian dollars ($41.32 million) paid out at January’s first grand slam of the year in Melbourne, but at current exchange rates is just shy of the 39.2 million Euros ($47.18 million) on offer at the French Open starting later this month.

Organisers also issued a warning that players who compete while knowingly carrying an injury, and quit mid-match, face being docked all their first-round prize money. The move is aimed at preventing a repeat of the rash of retirements in early action last year.

“In the wake of first-round withdrawals we pledged to act on it, and we have done so,” Wimbledon chief executive Richard Lewis told reporters.

“We were very influential in the creation and adoption of the 50-50 rule and hope the introduction of it will play a significant role in mitigating the problems of first-round singles retirements.”

Under the new rule, if an injured player withdraws onsite after midday on the Thursday before the Championships they will receive 50 percent of the first-round prize money. The replacement “lucky-loser” will get the other 50 percent.

With pound signs dominating the headlines at the club in leafy south-west London, tournament organisers also underlined their commitment to combating corruption in the sport and rolling out a sustainability program.

Central to the “greening” of the championships is a ban on plastic straws — some 400,000 were used at last year’s tournament — the introduction of electric vehicles in the courtesy car fleet; additional water-fill points around the grounds and the provision of paper bags at Wimbledon’s shops.

“Sustainability is an important and necessary area of focus, particularly for major events,” Lewis said. “We have put in place a sustainability vision which is to sustain the running of the club, and the championships in a way that minimises the impact on our environment.”

Organisers also reiterated they would be implementing rules first announced last November.

In addition to stripping players of their first-round prize money if they pull out of a match or perform to what the club deems “below professional standards”, Wimbledon will strictly enforce warm-up timing to speed up the game, but will also extend the time allowed between points from 20 to 25 seconds.

The U.S. Open, the final grand slam of the tennis calendar starting in August, is yet to announce its prize money.

Wimbledon, the only grand slam event to be played on grass, will take place from July 2-15.

This year’s championships mark the 150th anniversary of the club, 50 years of Open tennis and 125 years of the women’s singles championships. (NAN)

Source Daily Sports

Posted May 2, 2018


 

You may also like...
Atalanta Clinch Champions League Spot With Genoa Win...

Go Round FC keep promotion dream alive after...

Meet the Harvard-trained woman who turned down a...

Knight Frank Nigeria commits to golf development

Team Nigeria hopes to win African Badminton title...

Ronaldo Misses Second Training With Portugal After Foot...

 

Latest News Anambra School Sports Festival Ends In Emotional Grand Style As Njikoka Emerge Champions Club W’Cup: Chelsea face travel woes after group stage upset Lyon included in Ligue 1 fixtures despite demotion Adesanya eyes Strickland fight for UFC return Wilder ends losing streak, but questions linger Brentford reject Man Utd's new £62.5m Mbeumo bid After 31 Years, FG Hands Over Houses To 1994 Super Eagles Heroes Ronaldo signs new deal with Saudi club Al-Nassr Leicester part company with manager Van Nistelrooy 'Wilder v Paul next? You wouldn't flinch' UFC fighters to receive up to $1m in settlement payout 17 States Confirm Plans To host Olympic Day

 

Most Read Rangers International going, going . . . (55,552 views) Amaju Pinnick: A cat with nine lives (46,712 views) Second Term: Amaju Pinnick, Other NFF Heavyweights Home to Roost •How Pinnick Broke the Jinx (44,728 views) Current issues in Nigerian sports: Matters arising (44,322 views) Missing $150,000 IAAF Grant: Solomon Dalung’s Hide and Seek game (44,322 views) Sports Development: Zenith Bank on the zenith (44,312 views) Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje’s solid footprints, commitment to sports development in Kano State (44,114 views) NFF Presidency: Pinnick, Maigari, Ogunjobi, Okoye in Battle for Supremacy (43,658 views) Olopade, BET9A wave of revolution in NNL (42,768 views) Commonwealth Games 2018: Shame of Muhammadu Buhari, Solomon Dalung (41,378 views) Ibrahimovic’s Man U exit: Whose decision is it? And in whose interest? (39,824 views) John Mikel Obi: Segun Odegbami’s Outrageous Call! (39,247 views)

 

Phone numbers

Tel: +234(0)8066020976
+234(0)8055068145
+234(0)7013416146
+234(0)8094272884

Email addresses

info@dailysportsng.com
support@dailysportsng.com
publisher@dailysportsng.com

Office address

No 3, Adetoun Close, Off College Road, Ogba, Ikeja Lagos.
Website: www.dailysportsng.com

Social Media