Whoever wins the Wimbledon women’s championship on Saturday will enjoy a payout much, much higher than the one offered in 1968, the start of tennis’s professional era. Even better, it will be the same amount paid to the men’s winner for the 11th straight year after decades of pay inequality on the sport’s biggest stage.
In the championship match, American Serena Williams, 36, will face Germany’s Angelique Kerber, 30. Williams, in just her fourth tournament since having her baby, is gunning for her eighth Wimbledon title. Kerber is hoping to collect her first championship at the All England Club.
The winner will collect a hefty paycheck: £2.25 million, or about $3.3 million. The runner-up is set to earn half of that: £1.125 million.
In 1968, winner Billie Jean King, a pioneer for equal rights and pay for women in sports, took home just £750. That same year, the men’s champion earned £2,000.
Below is a list of how much the women’s champions earned, approximately every five years, starting in 1968. Of particular note is 2007, the first year men and women earned equal pay for claiming the tournament title.
It was Williams’ older sister, Venus, who famously fought Wimbledon on the disparity between men and women’s prize money and won.
Winnings are in both British pounds and U.S. dollars. Exact amounts may have varied depending on exchange rates at the time. The figures are based on Wimbledon’s full pay breakdown, which can be found here.
1968: £750 or $988
1973: £3,000 or $3,954
1978: £17,100 or $22,540
1983: £60,000 or $79,087
1988: £148,500 or $195,740
1993: £275,000 or $362,481
1998: £391,500 or $516,042
2003: £535,000 or $705,191
2007: £700,000 or $922,680
2008: £750,000 or $988,586
2013: £1,600,000 or $2.11 million
2018: £2.25 million or $3.30 million
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