LONDON: The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), organizers of Wimbledon, tennis’ oldest and most hallowed Grand Slam, announced an increase in prize money for the 2018 edition of the competition on Tuesday.
Alongside this, it will be initiating a sustainability project which is aimed at ‘greening’ of the championships beyond the grass courts.
A prize fund of £34 million ($46.57 million) will be created for the 2018 championships, a 7.6% increase on £31.6m from last year. The singles champions will each receive £2.25m, up from the £2.2m defending champions Roger Federer and Garbine Muguruza won last year.
Over the last 10 years, the AELTC has nearly trebled the total prize money on offer at the championships, rising from £11.8m in 2008 to £34m this year.
Over the same period, first round prize money has almost quadrupled from £10,250 to £39,000, while the singles champions’ prize money has increased from £750,000 to £2.25m.
Other notable developments include double digit increases to prize money awarded in the first four rounds of the men’s and women’s singles main draw and all rounds of qualifying; just over a 10% increase in the total contribution for men’s, womens’ and mixed doubles; and a 20% increase in the men’s and womens’ wheelchair singles and doubles.
Wimbledon has also rewritten rules this time about players quitting due to injury. The organisers warned that players who compete while knowingly carrying an injury, and quit mid-match, face being docked all their first-round prize money.
The AELTC stated: “Any main draw singles player who is unfit to play and withdraws on-site after 12pm on Thursday before the start of the main draw will now receive 50% of the first round prize money. The replacement lucky loser will receive the remaining 50%, plus any additional prize money earned thereafter.
“Any player who competes in the first round main draw singles and retires or performs below professional standards, may now be subject to a fine of up to first round prize money in 2018.”
The move is aimed at preventing a repeat of the rash of retirements in the early stages of the competition that was witnessed last year.
Setting out plans for the future development of the grounds under the Wimbledon Master Plan alongside detailed enhancements for the championships 2018, the AELTC also restated its commitment to integrity as one of the seven international governing bodies of tennis, following the publication of the Independent Review Panel’s (IRP) Interim Report.
“The All England Club’s mission statement is embedded in our Articles of Association; it guides our actions and ensures we keep our focus,” commented Philip Brook, chairman of the AELTC. “We recognise that to stay true to our mission statement we cannot afford to stand still, and we remain devoted to ensuring that we act in the best interests of our championships, our club, and our sport.”
The organisers further stated: “In particular, the AELTC is fully supportive of the recommendation for a delineation of professional tennis; for the establishment of an expanded, more independent structure to govern integrity in tennis; and a repositioning of the relationship between tennis and betting, including restricting the sale of official data at the lower levels of the sport, removal of betting sponsorships, and more intervention from government, regulatory bodies, and the betting industry itself.”
Sustainability
AELTC is implementing several changes for 2018:
– No plastic straws
– Jaguar, the Official Car, will introduce 10 electric vehicles into the courtesy car fleet for the first time.
– Provision of a paper bag option at The Wimbledon Shops, to complement the existing multi-use, oxo-degradable plastic bags as they are phased out.
– Free water re-fill points available for use by the public have been increased to 87 around the grounds, in addition to 21 water fountains. Water points have increased by 93% since 2014.
– Monitoring and fine-tuning waste streams and signage. In 2017, only 1.4% of Championships waste went to landfill.
Fan Engagement
– The official website has been rebuilt and redesigned, and will now feature the ability to select favourite players, events and countries, and receive alerts on their progress. The website also features continuous video, meaning the user’s viewing experience won’t be interrupted when they change page to check the latest score.
– ‘MyWimbledon’, a personalised digital experience for fans. Comprised of email, push message and in-ground augmented reality, ‘MyWimbledon’ will guide each fan through their visit to the championships according to their day, ticket type, and favourite players. – 2018 marks the third year of the Wimbledon Foundation’s unique activity map, Explore Wimbledon, which provides young visitors with a series of activities to complete during their day, while also acting as a useful guide to what to do and where to go around the grounds. The Wimbledon Museum is also putting on two special exhibitions at the Nottingham and Birmingham events under the same theme.
Wimbledon 2018 will take place from July 2-15 and this year will mark the 150th anniversary of the event, 50 years of Open tennis and 125 years of the women’s singles championships.
