MORGAN PIEK
Bloemfontein – The total prize money for the year’s third Grand Slam, Wimbledon, has been raised to a staggering R445 million, making it the richest Grand Slam in tennis.
The All England Club announced that the men’s and women’s singles champions will each receive R31 million, which is a 10 percent increase on last year’s top prize won by Andy Murray and Marion Bartoli.
The main increases at the grass court tournament are for the early losers, with players who fail to get past the third round receiving prize money worth 12.5 percent more than in 2013.
The French Open is the second richest Grand Slam with more than R365 million while the U.S. Open increased its earnings to R362 and the Australian Open went up to R327 million earlier this year.
