Wimbledon organisers have announced that they will be awarding prize money, despite the cancellation of this year's Championships due to COVID-19.
The annual lawn tennis spectacular should have been reaching a crescendo this week, but is the only one of this year's Grand Slams to be cancelled.
Despite the lack of action at SW19, the All England Club (AELTC) has confirmed that a £10million (€11.2m) prize fund will be split among 620 players.
The AELTC has also spent recent weeks handing out "donations of strawberries, towels and balls intended for The Championships 2020, the distribution of daily hot meals to those in need in the local community, and contributions to the Player Relief Programme and wheelchair tennis fund established by the governing bodies of world tennis and a coaches fundraising scheme."
The tennis community has seen its income slashed since both the ATP and WTA Tours ground to a halt in March.
Both tours will resume with the Citi Open in Washington on August 14, before the start of the US Open on August 31.
The All-England Club says that their ability to allocate prize money follows "consultation regarding our insurance cover for cancellation".
They stipulate, it will be distributed "with regard for the circumstances of this year and in the spirit of the AELTC’s prize money distribution in recent years."
"Based on world ranking," the AELTC say, "224 players who would have competed in Qualifying will each receive £12,500 (€14,000).
"256 players who would have competed in Main Draw Singles will each receive £25,000 (€28,000).
"120 players who would have competed in Main Draw Doubles will each receive £6,250 (€7,000).
"16 players who would have competed in the Wheelchair events will each receive £6,000 (€6,700).
"And four players who would have competed in the Quad Wheelchair events will each receive £5,000 (€5,600)."
What a lovely treat for our hard working @RHNuk staff on a Friday. Thank you so much @Wimbledon for the beautiful strawberries 🍓 🎾 pic.twitter.com/3hQX975DNo
— Katie Richards 💙 (@Katieksr83) July 10, 2020
AELTC chief executive Richard Lewis said of the decision, "Immediately following the cancellation of The Championships, we turned our attention to how we could assist those who help make Wimbledon happen.
"We know these months of uncertainty have been very worrying for these groups, including 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.
"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."
It's also been confirmed that their will be no public ticket ballot for the 2021 Championships.
The AELTC say, "Our intention as stated at the time of cancellation to transfer those tickets to enable the successful applicants to purchase the same day and court for The Championships 2021."
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