Wimbledon champs to net cool £1million

 

Originally published on: 26/04/10 17:06

One of Tim Phillips’s last jobs as chairman of the All England Club this July will be to sign two £1 million cheques for the men’s and women’s Wimbledon singles champions.

Tournament directors agreed to the £150,000 rise from last year’s prizes to offset the effects of the falling value of the British pound against the US dollar and the euro.

“Wimbledon exists in a highly competitive global marketplace and it is the world’s best players who create and drive the interest,” said Phillips.

“It is important that we offer a level of prize money which is both appropriate to the prestige of the event and which gives the players full and fair reward.”

The total prize money for the event will be £13.725 million, an increase of £1.175 million on 2009, while the new winners’ cheques have more than doubled for both men and women during Phillips’ eleven-year tenure as chairman.

The All England Club agreed to pay women the same prize money as men for the first time in 2007. The £1 million prize for the 2010 ladies singles’ champion is more than double that of eight years ago.

Phillips also announced that the All England Club will be a World Cup-free zone, meaning that football fans will not be able to watch matches on the big screens at the All England Club.

“This is arguably the leading tennis tournament in the world and people come here to watch tennis,” Phillips explained. “If people want to watch the World Cup they should go to South Africa or watch it on the TV.”

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