Wimbledon Raises Prize Money 20 Percent to Record 64.2 Million Pounds but Falls Short of Players’ 16-Percent Target

Wimbledon raised its total prize money by a record 20 percent for 2026, bringing the pot to 64.2 million pounds ($84.7 million). The amount represents about 15 percent of the tournament’s revenue, short of the 16 percent or 70 million pounds ($92.4 million) sought by a group of players represented by former WTA chief executive Larry Scott.

Aryna Sabalenka, the world number one and Wimbledon top seed, defended the protest during a shortened pre-tournament news conference.

“It’s a great start, they raise the prize money. It’s an amazing start. If you look over the last 10 years, if you compare the prize money to 2016, it’s kind of like the same [as a percentage] because it went down,” she told reporters.

She added that the effort was aimed at lower-ranked players who struggle to hire coaches. The winner’s prize rose to 3.6 million pounds ($4.7 million) from the 3 million pounds ($4 million) paid to 2025 champions Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner. First-round losers will receive 80,000 pounds ($106,000), up from 66,000 pounds ($87,100) last year.

The All England Club said it was “surprised and disappointed” by the protest and that its proposed player council had been rejected. It noted the increase was the largest in the event’s history and highlighted hundreds of millions of pounds invested in player facilities. Sabalenka, 28, arrived at Wimbledon after losing the last 10 games of her French Open quarterfinal against Diana Shnaider.

She said she has moved past that result with help from her psychologist.