Wimbledon prize money goes up by 6.2%

Wimbledon:

Prize money is going up by 6.2 percent at Wimbledon this year.

Tournament organizers said on Tuesday that the total prize fund will be 12.55 million pounds ($18.38 million; euro14.17 million) for the June 22-July 5 tournament. That compares to 11.8 million pounds last year.

It's a big decrease in dollar terms, however, because of the weakened British pound. Last year's figure translated to $23.46 million.

All England Club chairman Tim Phillips said the event was doing what it could to help offset the weakened exchange rates and maintain the tournament's prestige with players.

"Most of the players here don't bank in sterling," Phillips said. "We have to be mindful of the fact that a year ago it was two dollars to the pound and now it's less than one pound fifty."

The men's and women's champions will each receive 850,000 pounds ($1.24 million; euro960,000) _ the third year that the grass-court Grand Slam has awarded equal prize money to the both genders.

But that increase of 13.3 percent in sterling on last year's figure of 750,000 pounds still translates as a reduction in dollar terms of 17 percent on what was $1.49 million in July.

The All England Club also announced a five-year extension of its contract with IBM.

This year's tournament will feature the unveiling of a sliding roof over Centre Court.