<p>Wimbledon announced a hefty prize-pot hike on Tuesday, along with a new sustainability project aimed at ensuring it is not just the grass courts that remain green at the All England Club.</p>.<p>Organisers of the oldest grand slam tournament revealed a prize fund of 34 million pounds ($46.57 million) for the 2018 championships, up 7.6 percent from last year.</p>.<p>That figure includes awards of 2.25 million pounds each for the men’s and women’s champions – an increase on the 2.2 million pounds Roger Federer and Garbine Muguruza received in 2017.</p>.<p>Organisers also issued a warning that players who compete while knowingly carrying an injury, and quit mid-match, face being docked all their first-round prize money. The move is aimed at preventing a repeat of the rash of retirements in early action last year.</p>.<p>"In the wake of first-round withdrawals we pledged to act on it, and we have done so," Wimbledon chief executive Richard Lewis told reporters.</p>.<p>"We were very influential in the creation and adoption of the 50-50 rule and hope the introduction of it will play a significant role in mitigating the problems of first-round singles retirements."</p>.<p>Under the new rule, if an injured player withdraws onsite after midday on Thursday before the Championships they will receive 50 percent of the first-round prize money. The replacement "lucky-loser" will get the other 50 percent.</p>.<p>With pound signs dominating the headlines at the club in leafy south-west London, tournament organisers also underlined their commitment to combating corruption in the sport and rolling out a sustainability programme.</p>.<p>Central to the "greening" of the championships is a ban on plastic straws -- some 400,000 were used at last year's tournament -- the introduction of electric vehicles in the courtesy car fleet; additional water-fill points around the grounds and the provision of paper bags at Wimbledon's shops.</p>.<p>Organisers also reiterated they would be implementing rules first announced last November.</p>.<p>In addition to stripping players of their first-round prize money if they pull out of a match or perform to what the club deems "below professional standards", Wimbledon will strictly enforce warm-up timing to speed up the game, but will also extend the time allowed between points from 20 to 25 seconds.</p>.<p>Wimbledon's 2018 prize money eclipses the 55 million Australian dollars ($41.32 million) paid out at January's first grand slam of the year in Melbourne, but at current exchange rates is just shy of the 39.2 million Euros ($47.18 million) on offer at the French Open starting later this month.</p>.<p>The US Open, the final Grand Slam of the tennis calendar starting in August, is yet to announce its prize money.</p>.<p>Wimbledon, the only grand slam event to be played on grass, will take place from July 2-15.</p>.<p>This year's championships mark the 150th anniversary of the club, 50 years of Open tennis and 125 years of the women's singles championships. </p>
<p>Wimbledon announced a hefty prize-pot hike on Tuesday, along with a new sustainability project aimed at ensuring it is not just the grass courts that remain green at the All England Club.</p>.<p>Organisers of the oldest grand slam tournament revealed a prize fund of 34 million pounds ($46.57 million) for the 2018 championships, up 7.6 percent from last year.</p>.<p>That figure includes awards of 2.25 million pounds each for the men’s and women’s champions – an increase on the 2.2 million pounds Roger Federer and Garbine Muguruza received in 2017.</p>.<p>Organisers also issued a warning that players who compete while knowingly carrying an injury, and quit mid-match, face being docked all their first-round prize money. The move is aimed at preventing a repeat of the rash of retirements in early action last year.</p>.<p>"In the wake of first-round withdrawals we pledged to act on it, and we have done so," Wimbledon chief executive Richard Lewis told reporters.</p>.<p>"We were very influential in the creation and adoption of the 50-50 rule and hope the introduction of it will play a significant role in mitigating the problems of first-round singles retirements."</p>.<p>Under the new rule, if an injured player withdraws onsite after midday on Thursday before the Championships they will receive 50 percent of the first-round prize money. The replacement "lucky-loser" will get the other 50 percent.</p>.<p>With pound signs dominating the headlines at the club in leafy south-west London, tournament organisers also underlined their commitment to combating corruption in the sport and rolling out a sustainability programme.</p>.<p>Central to the "greening" of the championships is a ban on plastic straws -- some 400,000 were used at last year's tournament -- the introduction of electric vehicles in the courtesy car fleet; additional water-fill points around the grounds and the provision of paper bags at Wimbledon's shops.</p>.<p>Organisers also reiterated they would be implementing rules first announced last November.</p>.<p>In addition to stripping players of their first-round prize money if they pull out of a match or perform to what the club deems "below professional standards", Wimbledon will strictly enforce warm-up timing to speed up the game, but will also extend the time allowed between points from 20 to 25 seconds.</p>.<p>Wimbledon's 2018 prize money eclipses the 55 million Australian dollars ($41.32 million) paid out at January's first grand slam of the year in Melbourne, but at current exchange rates is just shy of the 39.2 million Euros ($47.18 million) on offer at the French Open starting later this month.</p>.<p>The US Open, the final Grand Slam of the tennis calendar starting in August, is yet to announce its prize money.</p>.<p>Wimbledon, the only grand slam event to be played on grass, will take place from July 2-15.</p>.<p>This year's championships mark the 150th anniversary of the club, 50 years of Open tennis and 125 years of the women's singles championships. </p>