Lower-ranked tennis players will be able to collect more in prize money than ever before at this year's Wimbledon tournament, a development which experts hope will help them to meet the high costs of professional tennis.
The sport's top players recognized the disparity in prize money between top ranked and low ranked players and last summer, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic met with the Grand Slam committees to discuss an increase in prize money, especially for players that lose in the first rounds.
Grand Slam organizers agreed to raise the total amount of prize money for the four prestigious events and allocate the highest percent of increases in prize money to players who lose in the first few rounds of the tournaments. Wimbledon increased by the total prize money by $10 million, the biggest increase of all.
"At the heart of the increase is a wish by the Club to continue to build on last year's focus of targeting the increases to the side of the draw which we felt needed it most - the players who lose in the early rounds or in qualifying," Wimbledon organizers said following the decision.
The Australian Open increased its total prize money by $4 million, Roland Garros (French Open) increased by $3 million and the U.S. Open increased by $8 million.
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Donna Vekic, currently ranked 64 in the world, told CNBC the increase of prize money is fantastic news.
"Tennis is a very expensive sport and I know fully that my parents have sacrificed a great deal to get me to this stage in my career. This is a monumental and historic achievement for women's tennis and I want to thank everyone involved for fighting for this milestone."
Sergiy Stakhovsky, currently ranked 117 in the world, said he and other players are very happy with the prize money increase that came after a long time and hours of discussion.