Wimbledon prize money set to exceed 2m: Report

London [UK], May 2 : Prize money for this year's Wimbledon singles champions will see a steep rise, i.e.

beyond 2 million pounds, a report suggests. The All England Club is expected to announce the amount on Wednesday and it is reported that the prize money would be 2.25 million pounds to maintain its dollar value compared to previous years.

A report from The Times has said that this year the increase in the prize money at the Wimbledon could be significantly larger as the All England Club aims to compensate for the falling pound following the Brexit vote.

Singles champions Andy Murray and Serena Williams received 2 million pound each in 2016, a figure approximately equal to 2.92 million USD.

This was a 6.4 percent rise on 2015's prize money. At the time of the competition last year, the exchange rate was USD 1.46 to the pound. However, the value of the pound now stands at USD 1.29, meaning that the 2017 prize would only be worth 2.58 million USD.

In order to match the US Open, which in 2016 gave 3.5 million USD apiece to its singles champions, the All England Club would have to announce a significant increase.

The Guardian quoted a spokeswoman for Wimbledon, who did not confirm the report, as saying, "The All England Lawn Tennis Club always takes into account the business and economic context of tennis worldwide, including any currency fluctuations, when determining prize money for each year's championships.".



Source: ANI