Wimbledon prize money 2021: What tennis stars can earn at the All England Lawn Tennis Club
The crowds may be back for 2021 but there is something missing from Wimbledon: prize money, or a large chunk of it.
This year, the total prize money fund at the All England Lawn Tennis Club is £35m, an eight per cent reduction.
For those competing in the men’s and women’s finals this weekend, the drop in Wimbledon prize money is far more pronounced.
The winners will receive £1.7m each, a 28 per cent reduction. Runners-up are in line for £900,000, which represents a 23 per cent fall.
Previous Wimbledon prize money figures relate to 2019 as the grand slam tournament was cancelled last year due to the pandemic.
But not all players at Wimbledon will be worse off this year; those who lost in qualifying or in earlier rounds will earn more than in 2019.
And that is good news for Brits Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu.
Prize money boosts for Murray and Raducanu
Two-time champion Murray, who lost in the third round, received £115,000 for his efforts, a four per cent increase on what he would have earned in 2019.
Teenager Raducanu, who lit up Centre Court with a string of super performances before retiring with breathing difficulties in the fourth round, banked £181,000.
That is £5,000 more than a player who lost at the same stage two years ago would have earned.
Payments to players who lost in qualifying, meanwhile, have been increased by up to 17 per cent.
The narrowing of the gap between Wimbledon prize money paid to winners and early-round losers follows similar moves at the French Open and ATP Finals.
It is an attempt to help lower-ranked players who have substantial costs and have been hardest hit by Covid-19 and the upheaval it has caused to the tennis calendar.
And in another move that eases the burden during the pandemic, Wimbledon organisers have covered the costs of accommodation for players this year.
Wimbledon prize money is the second highest on the circuit, after the US Open.