Wimbledon have announced an 11.8% increase in prize money for this year’s championships but have delayed the use of the shot clock until 2020.
The move was announced at their spring press conference as they announced that the winner of the men’s and women’s singles will get an increase of £100,000.
In addition there will be a 10% increase in prize money for the qualifying rounds and the opening three rounds for the main draw.
Speaking about the change, AELTC Chairman Philipp Brook said, “It is a clear demonstration, once again, of our continued commitment to do what we can for players for whom it will have the most impact.”
There will also be a 20% increase in prize money for the doubles players.
However there was a shock announcement from Wimbledon, which is that the shot clock will not be used in this year’s tournament.
This comes as the Australian Open, Roland Garros and US Open have all used the shot clock before but Wimbledon have decided to delay its use until 2020.
There is also good news for fans as Court One now has a roof on it and will be used at this year’s championships.
Also from 2020 there will now be an online ballot to purchase tickets, rather than a postal ballot which Wimbledon has ran since 1924.
Roof Curfew and Sustainability
Wimbledon also announced that the 11pm curfew of play under the Centre Court roof will remain but should play continue into the next day, then they will return to normal outdoor conditions.
This is after last year’s semi-final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal was played under the Centre Court roof during a Sunny day during the last Saturday of the Championships.
It occurred after they started the match under the roof, the previous evening and both players could not agree to play outdoors.
However a situation like that won’t occur again after today’s ruling by the All England Lawn Tennis Association.
Also Wimbledon will do it’s bit to be a more sustainable and eco-friendly tournament after announcing that they will bin plastic bags from racket stringing operations. As a result 4,500 plastic bags will be eliminated.
Wimbledon is the third grand slam of the year and starts on the 1st of July, ending on the 14th of July.
