Wimbledon was hailed as “a class act” on Friday after the tournament agreed to award 10 million pounds in prize money to the 620 players who would have taken part in the tournament had it not been cancelled. The All England Club said that based on world rankings, 224 players who would have competed in qualifying will each receive 12,500 pounds while the 256 players who would have featured in main draw singles will get 25,000 pounds. In doubles, it will be 6,250 pounds, for wheelchair events, the sum would be 6,000 pounds per player, with 5,000 pounds for quad wheelchair competitors.
Legendary tennis player and multiple time grand slam champion took to twitter to laud Wimbledon for their amazing gesture.
Amazing news — always a class act and leader of our sport !! Well done @Wimbledon – can’t wait to be back next year ! 💚💜 https://t.co/BFok5ZSDQI
— Kim Clijsters (@Clijsterskim) July 10, 2020
Wimbledon, which would have been hosting its finals this weekend, was cancelled for the first time since the Second World War due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We know these months of uncertainty have been very worrying for the players, many of whom have faced financial difficulty during this period and who would have quite rightly anticipated the opportunity to earn prize money at Wimbledon based on their world ranking,” said All England Club chief executive Richard Lewis.
“We are pleased that our insurance policy has allowed us to recognise the impact of the cancellation on the players and that we are now in a position to offer this payment as a reward for the hard work they have invested in building their ranking to a point where they would have gained direct entry into The Championships 2020.”
Previously, when tennis had been suspended early this year due to the health crisis, Wimbledon had been applauded for their foresight. They had taken a pandemic insurance over the years, because of which they were able to avail of its benefits this year to provide some much needed financial relief.
Organisers will also distribute money to officials and some international umpires.”
“Just when you thought you couldn’t love @Wimbledon any more,” tweeted Britain’s Marcus Willis, who famously reached the second round in 2016, where he lost to Roger Federer.
