Wimbledon answers player revolt with record 20% prize money rise to £64.2m
A 20 per cent rise to £64.2m makes Wimbledon the first Grand Slam to move on money since the players’ Roland-Garros protest – but the announcement is silent on revenue share, welfare and consultation, the three pillars of their campaign.
Wimbledon trophy
Wimbledon will offer a record £64.2 million in prize money this year, a 20 per cent increase on 2025 and, according to the All England Club, the biggest annual rise in the tournament’s history. The media release released on Thursday is a concrete response from a Grand Slam since the player protest that overshadowed the opening of Roland-Garros.
The £10.7m uplift takes the singles champions’ cheques to £3.6m (up 20 per cent) and the runners-up to £1.8m (up 18 per cent). First-round losers in the singles will earn £80,000, a 21 per cent increase, while the qualifying pot rises 25 per cent to £6.2m. The doubles events receive 10 per cent more, the wheelchair and quad events 20 per cent.
“As Wimbledon grows, the players will continue to share in that success”
“As Wimbledon grows, the players will continue to share in that success,” said Deborah Jevans, chair of the All England Club, in the announcement.
The timing is impossible to separate from the standoff that has built since early May. In Rome, a group of leading players headed by world No 1s Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner issued a statement expressing “deep disappointment” over the Roland-Garros prize money, and Sabalenka raised the prospect of a boycott of the majors.
In Paris, the protest took the form of pre-tournament press conferences limited to 15 minutes – a figure chosen to symbolise the roughly 15 per cent of revenue the Grand Slams allocate to prize money. The Roland-Garros fund of €61.7m represented a 9.5 per cent increase, and the FFT made clear the figure was fixed for this edition; the players calculated that their share of the tournament’s revenue had fallen from 15.5 per cent in 2024 to a projected 14.9 per cent in 2026. The federation promised to return with detailed proposals within a fortnight of the finals, a window that is still open.
The players’ demands go beyond a single year’s increase. Their representatives are pushing for 22 per cent of total Grand Slam revenues to be allocated to prize money by 2030, reached through gradual annual increases, alongside a welfare contribution, broadly, social protection, rising to $12 million per Grand Slam by the same date. They also want the Slams to fund pensions, healthcare and maternity provision, and to consult players on matters such as scheduling.
US Open next
Wimbledon’s 20 per cent answers the headline number but not the structural question: the announcement makes no reference to revenue share, welfare contributions or player consultation, the three pillars of the campaign. The All England Club instead pointed to its broader spending, saying it has invested nearly £1 billion since Covid across prize money, facilities, the grass-court season and British and international tennis – including, by its own figures, £50m on the grass-court swing and an annual $750,000 to the Grand Slam Player Development Programme.
The next test arrives quickly. Sinner said during the Rome dispute that players were hoping Wimbledon and the US Open would respond to their demands. One of the two has now moved on money. Whether the players judge 20 per cent a response or a deflection will become clear when they arrive in London at the end of the month.
| Round | Prize money (£) | Total (£) | Change vs 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gentlemen’s and ladies’ singles | |||
| Winner | 3,600,000 | 3,600,000 | 20% |
| Runner-up | 1,800,000 | 1,800,000 | 18% |
| Semi-finalists | 900,000 | 1,800,000 | 16% |
| Quarter-finalists | 480,000 | 1,920,000 | 20% |
| Fourth round | 300,000 | 2,400,000 | 25% |
| Third round | 185,000 | 2,960,000 | 23% |
| Second round | 126,000 | 4,032,000 | 26% |
| First round | 80,000 | 5,120,000 | 21% |
| Total (two events) | 47,264,000 | 22% | |
| Qualifying – gentlemen’s and ladies’ singles | |||
| Third round | 50,000 | 800,000 | 20% |
| Second round | 32,000 | 1,024,000 | 23% |
| First round | 20,000 | 1,280,000 | 29% |
| Total (two events) | 6,208,000 | 25% | |
| Gentlemen’s and ladies’ doubles (per pair) | |||
| Winners | 760,000 | 760,000 | 12% |
| Runners-up | 380,000 | 380,000 | 10% |
| Semi-finalists | 190,000 | 380,000 | 9% |
| Quarter-finalists | 95,000 | 380,000 | 9% |
| Third round | 48,000 | 384,000 | 10% |
| Second round | 29,000 | 464,000 | 12% |
| First round | 18,000 | 576,000 | 9% |
| Total (two events) | 6,648,000 | 10% | |
| Mixed doubles (per pair) | |||
| Winners | 148,000 | 148,000 | 10% |
| Runners-up | 74,000 | 74,000 | 9% |
| Semi-finalists | 37,000 | 74,000 | 9% |
| Quarter-finalists | 19,000 | 76,000 | 9% |
| Second round | 10,000 | 80,000 | 11% |
| First round | 5,200 | 83,200 | 16% |
| Total | 535,200 | 10% | |
| Wheelchair singles (gentlemen’s and ladies’) | |||
| Winner | 82,000 | 82,000 | 21% |
| Runner-up | 43,000 | 43,000 | 19% |
| Semi-finalists | 29,000 | 58,000 | 21% |
| Quarter-finalists | 20,000 | 80,000 | 23% |
| First round | 12,800 | 102,400 | 19% |
| Total per event | 365,400 | 21% | |
| Quad wheelchair singles | |||
| Winner | 82,000 | 82,000 | 21% |
| Runner-up | 43,000 | 43,000 | 19% |
| Semi-finalists | 29,000 | 58,000 | 21% |
| Quarter-finalists | 20,000 | 80,000 | 23% |
| Total | 263,000 | 21% | |
| Wheelchair doubles (per pair) | |||
| Winners | 36,000 | 36,000 | 20% |
| Runners-up | 18,000 | 18,000 | 20% |
| Semi-finalists | 11,000 | 22,000 | 22% |
| Quarter-finalists | 6,500 | 26,000 | 18% |
| Total per event | 102,000 | 20% | |
| Quad wheelchair doubles (per pair) | |||
| Winners | 36,000 | 36,000 | 20% |
| Runners-up | 18,000 | 18,000 | 20% |
| Semi-finalists | 11,000 | 22,000 | 22% |
| Total | 76,000 | 21% | |
| Invitation doubles (per pair) | |||
| Winners | 35,000 | 35,000 | – |
| Runners-up | 28,000 | 28,000 | – |
| Second place in each group | 24,000 | 48,000 | – |
| Third place in each group | 24,000 | 48,000 | – |
| Fourth place in each group | 24,000 | 48,000 | – |
| Total (three events) | 621,000 | – | |
| Total tennis events | 62,550,000 | 20% | |
| Per diems (estimated) | 1,650,000 | 10% | |
| Total prize money | 64,200,000 | 20% | |
