Henman Hopes Tours Will Increase Prize Monies

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 30th April 2013

Henman Hopes Tours Will Increase Prize Monies

LONDON - JANUARY 15: Former British tennis player Tim Henman looks on during a photo call at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, on January 15, 2008 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images) |

Tim Henman spent more than a decade as a vocal member of the ATP World Tour and served his time on the Player’s Council but now the 38 year-old occasional performer on the Champion’s Tour spends far more time fulfilling his role on the All England Club’s Board of Management. And after backing up the views of his chairman Philip Brook on the current issue of the ATP backing up the Grand Slams on the prize money issue, it is clear where his loyalty lies.

Henman, a four times Wimbledon semi-finalist who retired six years ago with a fortune well in excess of £10 million, agrees with Wimbledon chairman Brook that too much emphasis is being placed on the four Grand Slams to make tennis financially viable.

And he wants to see the lower ranked tournaments raise their industry at finding sponsors and providing lower ranked players with the ability to earn rather than simply holding out open hand to the Grand Slam events as they have in the past couple of years.

“I still remember playing my first Challenger tournament in Hong Kong in 1990, and the prize fund was $50,000,” said Henman. “Now 23 years on, the Challenger tournaments are still paying exactly the same money that they were then. Players need to look at their own tours, which are run separately from the slams, and ask why they haven’t improved the funds on offer.”

Henman was speaking in the wake of Wimbledon’s announcement last week that the upcoming 2013 Championships will see a 40% overall increase on last year’s prize money with this summer’s men’s and women’s champions set to receive £1.6m. First round losers, several of which will be playing by the charity of a wild card, will go away with £23,500 this year.

“Some people might look at the Wimbledon figures and say ‘the wild cards are going to make a killing’,” Henman added. “But the reality is that there are very few people just being handed a wild card into the slams these days.

“The vast majority of players in the main draw have earned their place, one way or another, and our goal was to reward the people ranked between No 60-200. These are phenomenally good players, and we should recognize their effort and achievement. The No 100 ranked player in the world doesn’t earn enough.

“People need to know that they can make a living. We are losing a lot of the best athletes to other sports at the age of seven or eight, which is exactly the time when you want to get a racket into their hand.”