THE ALL ENGLAND CLUB have announced plans to increase prize money for those players exiting in the early rounds at Wimbledon.
Tournament organisers said total prize money at Wimbledon 2012 would be increased from 14.6 million pounds to 16.1 million.
“We’re announcing a 10 percent overall increase in prize money, this is the largest percentage increase at Wimbledon since 1993,” All England Club Chairman Philip Brook said.
“It takes our total prize money from 14.6 million pounds to 16.1 million, so a 1.5 million increase. The majority of that 1.5 million increase will be going to players who lose in qualifying or in the early rounds of the championships.”
Brook insisted the move was not motivated by the threat of industrial action by the game’s top players and was rather to make sure the sport’s battlers were better paid.
“To repeat what I said earlier, there hasn’t been any suggestion that there would be any industrial action or unrest,” he said.
“What we heard was genuine concern from top players and tour management that this was an issue. We have listened to those concerns and we’ve acted in what we are announcing here today. Hopefully these increases will be received positively by players and tour management.
“I think what we have in the top four players today is a group of players who are very responsible and their responsibility goes for all those around them.
“And what we heard from them was not a request for more prize money for them, but a recognition that this was an issue for the sport and that something needed to be done about it.”
