Copyright © 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

Wimbledon raised the prize money for the champions to the £2 million mark  ($2.92 million) for the upcoming 2016 Championships but on today’s exchange rates that still puts the tournament third in game of one-upmanship between the four Grand Slam tournaments.

The US Open, yet to announce how much the winners will be paid come September, paid US$3.3 million to both Novak Djokovic and the now retired Flavia Pennetta last year which on today’s exchange rates equates to £2.26 million.

And January’s Australian Open paid Djokovic and Angelique Kerber Aus$3.85 million which today equates to £2.4million or $2,98 million US, . Only the French Open lags behind and despite 14% overall increase, the winners at Roland Garros will only receive €2.1 million each (£1.6m) or $2,374,890 US each.

The overall prize fund for the Championships, that begin in earnest on June 27 and run until July 10, goes up 5% to £28,100,000 ($41million), but All England Club chairman Philip Brook is undisturbed that the US Open, with the 2016 figures still not formally announced continues to lead the monetary league.

“We do keep an eye on how we stand in comparison to the other three Grand Slam events but it is not something of too much concern to be, to be honest,’ said Brook. “A lot of it is tied in with how the other currencies are doing and the exchange rates.

“A few years ago the Australian dollar was much stronger and consequently that tournament was way out in front. Now that currency has weakened, as has the Euro to a lesser extent. And the American dollar is currently going through a strong period.

More pertinently in many people’s eyes the All England Club are investing more towards integrity and anti-doping issues at the tournament.

In line with traditional All England Club policy, actual figures have been kept secret but this year every match throughout Championships, including qualifying, will be fully videoed to increase the ability of the Tennis Integrity Unit and betting operators to prevent potential opportunities for corruption.

There will also be increased monitoring, in collaboration with IBM and the TIU, to monitor and analyze of match data to trigger betting alerts. However tournament director Richard Lewis was at pains to point out there was not one betting alert at Wimbledon last year.

“Our increased investment in promoting integrity in the light of recent focus on these areas underlines our determination for Wimbledon to play its’ part in safeguarding the integrity of tennis and securing the public’s faith in our sport,’ said Lewis.

With regards to specifics on the anti-doping improvements, Lewis was also reluctant to give details. There would be enhanced testing but he said: “It would be wrong to go into details because the unpredictability of when this tests would take place in an important factor.’

Copyright © 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.