Barbora Krejčíková won the Wimbledon ladies singles final Saturday, taking home $3.45 million for her second Grand Slam title. Krejčíková also won the 2021 French Open. The Czech tennis player, seeded No. 31 at Wimbledon, defeated No. 7–seed Jasmine Paolini.
The ladies winner’s check is equal to the men’s top payout, which comes from a record $64 million purse at Wimbledon this year. The prize pot is an 11.9% increase from 2023. Even players who lost in the first round received a nice sum of $76,636 each.
This marks the seventh straight tournament with a first-time ladies champion at Wimbledon. Serena Williams won the 2015 and ’16 titles, her sixth and seventh at Wimbledon. (There was no tournament in ’20.) That was also the last time a U.S. woman won Wimbledon.
Four American women made Wimbledon’s fourth round this year, but just one, No. 19
Emma Navarro, advanced to the quarterfinals. She beat No. 2 Coco Gauff before losing to Paolini in the quarterfinals. Paolini sent home No. 12 Madison Keys in the fourth round, and fellow finalist Krejčíková beat No. 11 Danielle Collins.
No. 5 Jessica Pegula, who is the daughter of Bills and Sabres owners Kim and Terry Pegula, lost in the second round.
Next up on the Grand Slam calendar is the US Open, which begins in New York City in late August. The tournament annually offers more prize money than any other in tennis. This year’s purse hasn’t been announced, but last year’s was $65 million, with a significant increase expected this summer.