news mogaznews | Wimbledon announces bumper increase in prize money to an eye-watering £64.2m following revolt among top stars - as Serena Williams' comeback reaches an abrupt end

Wimbledon announces bumper increase in prize money to an eye-watering £64.2m following revolt among top stars - as Serena Williams' comeback reaches an abrupt end

By: dailymail Posted On: June 11, 2026 View: 54

Wimbledon has announced a massive 20 per cent bump in prize money to a total of £64.2million for this year's Championships.

The increase of over £10m from £53.5m last year comes in the context of a revolt from top players over prize money. At the recent French Open they took their most militant step so far by restricting their pre-tournament press duties to 15 minutes.

In the most highly-charged prize money announcement in recent times, given the background, The All England Club revealed that this year's men's and women's singles champions will earn £3.6m each (up from £3m) and that first-round losers will get £80,000 (up from £66,000).

Wimbledon has announced a massive 20 per cent bump in prize money to a total of £64.2million for this year's Championships

After the French Open made only a 9.5 per cent increase, this big boost by Wimbledon will surely be well received and should be considered a victory for the campaigning players.

SERENA FAIRYTALE COMEBACK CUT SHORT

Serena Williams' comeback to tennis has been cut short at Queen's Club by an injury to her partner Victoria Mboko.

The 19-year-old Canadian suffered a nasty slip on the grass during the second set of her match against Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday and had to retire. And the next morning the expected news came that Mboko was also withdrawing from the doubles, leaving the 44-year-old Williams stranded without a partner.

Williams and Mboko combined to defeat No3 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe on Tuesday and had been due to face Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund on Thursday.

Serena will now move on to Berlin next week, where she is playing double with Czech Karolina Muchova. She is yet to make a decision on whether to continue her comeback tour into Wimbledon.

The Australian Open this year increased prize money by 16 per cent, and last year's US Open by 20 per cent - a startling figure which Wimbledon have now matched.

More to follow.

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