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LONDON -- Total prize money for this years Wimbledon tournament will reach 25 million pounds ($42 million), an increase of 10. Scott Kazmir Athletics Jersey .8 per cent that will mostly favour the early-round losers. The All England Club said Tuesday that the mens and womens singles champions will each receive 1.76 million pounds ($2.9 million), a 10 per cent increase on last years top prize won by Andy Murray and Marion Bartoli. By comparison, this years French Open champions will receive 1.65 million euros ($2.3 million) while Stanislas Wawrinka and Li Na earned $2.65 million for their wins at the Australian Open in January. U.S. Open organizers have yet to announce the prize money for this years tournament. The main increases at Wimbledon are for the early losers, with players who fail to get past the third round receiving prize money worth 12.5 per cent more than in 2013. "Weve placed emphasis on the large group of players who need our help the most, those players who lose in qualifying and in the early rounds of the championships," Wimbledon chairman Philip Brook said. "We also had an eye to being competitive internationally, and we do keep our watch on what is going on in other tennis events and in particular the other Grand Slams." The grass-court Grand Slam will be played from June 23-July 6. In keeping with player demands for a larger slice of Grand Slam revenues, all four majors have greatly increased their prize money in the past two years, with Wimbledon offering the biggest amount following a record 40 per cent increase last year. The French Open now offers more than 25 million euros ($34.5 million) while the U.S. Open increased its purse to $34.3 million and the Australian Open went up to AU$33 million ($31 million). The Wimbledon prize money for the majority of singles players who lose in the first three rounds of the grass-court tournament has been increased by more than 100 per cent over a three-year period. The main increase this year is for first-round losers, with each receiving 27,000 pounds ($45,450), 14.9 per cent more than last year. "This year weve got a very generous increase once again," Brook said. "We wanted to build on the focus from 2012 and 2013." There will also be an increase of 8.7 per cent in prize money for doubles and a 6.1 per cent increase for mixed doubles. In all, an extra 2.4 million pounds ($4 million) is up for grabs compared to last year. Brook said plans to build a retractable roof on Court No. 1 are still on track pending planning approval, with an application to be submitted later this year. The roof, similar to the one on Centre Court, should be completed in 2019, and court capacity will be increased by 900 seats to 12,400. Brook also confirmed the tournament will start a week later in 2015 to create a three-week gap between the French Open and Wimbledon, with the mens final on July 12. "Hopefully with the extra week more players will be encouraged to compete on grass," Brook said. Seedings for this years tournament will be announced on June 18. Brook said defending champion Murray, who has slipped to eighth in the rankings, will stay among the top seeds thanks to his strong record on grass over the past two years. Wimbledons seeding order is determined using the ATP rankings and points are added for achievements in grass-court tournaments in the past 12 months. "And we add to that 75 per cent of the best-performing tournament in the previous year," Brook said. "For Andy Murray, as the winner of Queens last year and the winner here last year, and a finalist here in 2012, there will be a significant impact on him." Brooks said the seedings will also have "significant impact" on seven-time champion Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, Brook said. Brook did not comment on speculation of a possible return to competition by Bartoli ahead of Wimbledon. The 29-year-old Frenchwoman retired suddenly after a loss at Cincinnati last August, explaining that her body could no longer take the strain after 14 years as a pro. When asked if her entourage had been in touch recently and if Bartoli would be granted a wild card if she asked for one, Brook said: "The rumours in France have not reached London yet, so well wait and see." Coco Crisp Authentic Jersey . Methot is dealing with a back issue that will force him to miss the tournament. Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Braydon Coburn will replace Methot on the Canadian roster. Dennis Eckersley Jersey . -- Jordan Jeffersons LSU teammates heard the boos when the embattled quarterback stepped out on the field for the first time since his suspension was lifted this past week.OBERSTDORF, Germany -- Vancouvers Jeremy Ten and ice dancers Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam of Barrie, Ont., won bronze medals on Saturday at the Nebelhorn Trophy senior figure skating competition. In mens competition, Nobunari Oda of Japan took the gold with 262.98 points, Jason Brown of the United States was second at 228.43 and Ten followed at 205.56. He ranked third in the short program Friday and fifth in the long. "This is quite exciting," said the 24-year-old Ten. "Ive worked really hard over the summer and its great to finally see it pay off this early in the season. Today I wasnt at my best so I know theres a lot of room to grow. In the whole program there was a lot tweaking involved to get all the combos in. I didnt let anything go and fought through the mistakes at the beginning." Ten was coming off a tough 2012-13 campaign which included an eighth place finish at the national championships. He is now a contender for one of those three available Olympic spots after achieving the qualifying score Saturday. "This off-season, I just needed to have a reset and re-evaluate where I was in my career," he said. "I chaanged my training venue for a month this summer and that really set me up for the year. Jed Lowrie Authentic Jersey. I remembered the reasons I was skating and fell back in love with the sport." In ice dancing, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the U.S. were the winners at 147.11, Ksenia Monko and Kirill Khaliavin of Russia were second at 142.14 and Paul and Islam, the leaders after Fridays short program, followed at 141.99. "It was a tough ending to a really great competition for us," said Islam, who joined forces with Paul in 2009. "There were some technical issues today that hurt us. Still, its a building block for the rest of the season and we have lots of positives to take forward." The couple were anxious to unveil their new programs to the international skating world. "This year weve been really working on our performance," said Paul. "We also got all new lifts which are more impressive and should bring us better technical scores. Today we gained a lot of confidence knowing that with a few mistakes we can still pull through." In the team standings, Russia ranked first, the U.S. second and Canada third.cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
