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It Pays to Win at Wimbledon

The Wimbledon tennis championship has always been one step ahead of all other tournaments in the world. The prestige that comes with winning this title has always been an incentive for men and women for decades to vie for the top prize. However, now they will have another reason to fight until the finish ? the All England Club announced this week that it was increasing Wimbledon prize money by nearly 9% up from last year. This means that men and women singles champions will go home with a whopping $1.4-million in prizes.

For the first time in Wimbledon?s history, men and women champions will be paid the same amount in prize money. This is due to the growing practice in other grand slam tournaments around the world, which are also offering equal pay to players. Because of this new practice, it essentially means that the single women?s prize money has increased by nearly 20% from last year. It also means that Wimbledon is offering the biggest prize in the world for a tennis title. "We want to reward the players appropriately for the talent, entertainment and drama they bring to the grass courts of Wimbledon,? said the chairman of the All England Club.

These are not the only changes happening at Wimbledon these days. Major reconstruction is due to take place as soon as the championships end in July. Plans for a new court 2 that will seat up to 4000 spectators is already in the pipelines, as well as a new court 3 that will hold up to 2000 viewers. Both new courts are due to be completed by the 2009 championships.