Wimbledon organisers increase total prize money by 10.8 percent

The All England Club has reportedly increased the total prize money for this year's Wimbledon tournament by 10.8 percent to an amount of 25 million pounds in a move which will mostly favour the early-round losers.

The main increases at Wimbledon are for the early losers, with players who fail to get past the third round receiving prize money worth 12.5 percent more than in 2013.

According to Sport24, the All England Club said that the men's and women's singles champions will each receive 1.76 million pounds, a 10 percent increase on last year's top prize and Wimbledon chairperson Philip Brook said that they have placed emphasis on the large group of players who lose in qualifying and in the early rounds.

Brook further said that they also had an eye to being competitive internationally by watching what is going on in other tennis events and in particular the other Grand Slams, adding that they have made the prize money increase this year to build on the focus from 2012 and 2013.

The report mentioned that in keeping with player demands for a larger slice of Grand Slam revenues, all four majors have greatly increased their prize money in the past two years, with Wimbledon offering the biggest amount following a record 40 percent increase last year.

The report further said that the Wimbledon prize money for the majority of singles players who lose in the first three rounds of the grass-court tournament has been increased by more than 100 percent over a three-year period, with each first-round loser receiving 27000 pounds, 14.9 percent more than last year.

There will also be an increase of 8.7 percent in prize money for doubles and a 6.1 percent increase for mixed doubles, and the report added that in all, an extra 2.4 million pounds is up for grabs compared to last year.