PRIZE money for wheelchair tennis champions at Wimbledon has almost doubled since the singles event was introduced in 2016.

Wimbledon is now the first grand slam to pay the winners of the wheelchair singles more than those knocked out in the first round of the able-bodied event.

The wheelchair singles champions now pocket £46,000, compared to £25,000 in 2016 – a jump of 84%.

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Able-bodied players who lose their first match currently take home £45,000.

Wheelchair singles world number four Gordon Reid, 27, said: “They’re now showing our finals on the hill, broadcasting our matches – none of us have asked for that but that’s been provided by the tournament.

“Prize money is increasing quite substantially every year in terms of percentages from where we were at the previous year, and we’re a very new part of the event still.”