London: 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.

Wimbledon, which should have staged its finals this weekend, was in April cancelled for first time since the Second World War due to the Coronavirus crisis. 

“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.” Organisers will also distribute money to officials and some international umpires.

Meanwhile, the men’s singles seedings will revert to the world rankings at next year’s Wimbledon, after almost two decades of being based on grass-court form.

Next year’s Wimbledon will run from June 28 to July 11.