Wimbledon hailed for noble prize money gesture

London

The All England Club said that based on world rankings, 224 players who would have competed in qualifying will each receive 12,500 pounds while the 256 players who would have featured in main draw singles will get 25,000 pounds. In doubles, it will be 6,250 pounds, for wheelchair events, the sum would be 6,000 pounds per player, with 5,000 pounds for quad wheelchair competitors.

“Amazing news -- always a class act and leader of our sport. Well done @Wimbledon – can’t wait to be back next year,” tweeted former world number one and four-time major singles winner Kim Clijsters.

Wimbledon, which should have staged its finals this weekend, was in April cancelled for the first time since the Second World War due to the coronavirus crisis.

“We know these months of uncertainty have been very worrying for the players, many of whom have faced financial difficulty during this period and who would have quite rightly anticipated the opportunity to earn prize money at Wimbledon based on their world ranking,” said All England Club chief executive Richard Lewis. Organisers will also distribute money to officials and some international umpires.