Fri, June 12, 2026
Wimbledon increases prize money by 20%
Wimbledon will increase its prize money by 20%, the biggest rise in its history, and even though top players argue that this is inadequate because it is still less than 16% of the tournament’s revenue, it has been welcomed temporarily since it shows “a signal of intent.”
The total prize money purse will now be £64.2 million which is a £10.7 million increase from last year’s tournament. The men’s and women’s champions will be awarded £3.6 million and those who lose in the beginning round will receive £80,000, so there is an increase across all stages.
Chair of Wimbledon’s organiser, the All England Lawn and Tennis Club (AELTC), Deborah Jevans, voiced that the tournament has been able to fund this increase because it is run “in such a sustainable way.”
However, players have previously demanded that the prize purse should be made up of at least 16% of a tournament’s revenue, which would roughly be £71 million for Wimbledon, with hopes for this to eventually reach 22%. Even with the increase, it still only represents roughly 14.4%.
Jevans has expressed fustration at such demands, arguing that the AELTC is not for profit:
“We’ve always been clear that we’re on the side of the players and we want to have a fantastic Wimbledon, but using revenue to determine prize money, it just makes no sense. And we have said that to Larry Scott [former Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Chair and Chief Executive who is leading the player’s campaign against the Grand Slams] …
Revenue does not take into account the contributions that we give. And as I’ve spoken about, we’re not for profit. We’re very different to the Masters 1000s in that everything goes back in the sport…
So, I am frustrated that that message hasn’t gotten across. But we have constant dialogue with Larry in this regard and we’re hoping that message will get across for the players to understand the investment back into the game which is so very, very important and that allows us to be sustainable and will do into the future.” Whilst addressing the topic, Jevans emphasised that a vast amount of money is invested in the Wimbledon grounds.
The Millennium Building at Wimbledon, home of the players, media and members, has had a new level added for player facilities. Jevans elaborated: “These developments are the direct result of feedback from players who have grown their teams and are seeking more and more space.”
In the latest update, the player group has voiced: “Leading players from the ATP and WTA Tours welcome Wimbledon’s 2026 prize money announcement as a genuine and significant step forward – the 20% increase is the largest single-year uplift in the tournament’s history and a meaningful signal of intent.” Therefore, even though the prize purse still falls short of 16% of revenue, it seems to have been temporarily accepted by players this year.
To compare to the other Grand slams, last year's U.S. Open offered $90 million in prize money while this year's Australian Open's total was AUD $111.5 million. The French Open prize pot was around $71 million. During the French Open, players demonstrated that this was inadequate by staging a media boycott, limiting their media appearances to only 15 minutes.
Another development this year at Wimbledon includes video review technology which has already been used during the Australian Open and US Open. Unlike the other 3 Grand Slams, line judges remained at the French Open, as opposed to Electronic Line Calling (ELC). Speaking about the ELC technology to BBC Sport, president of the French Tennis Federation, Gilles Moretton, stated: “We look around, we see what is going on elsewhere, we see that it's not perfect - there's a 10% margin of error.”
As the French Open is the only Grand Slam played on clay, he elaborated: “On clay, we are lucky because we can have the footprints of the balls.”
Furthermore, following the controversy surrounding professional tennis players having been told to remove fitness trackers from their wrists during the Australian Open as such technology was not yet allowed at Grand Slams, players were permitted to wear them during the French Open for the first time, and this will extend to Wimbledon and the US Open.
