The biggest fortnight in the tennis calendar came to a close on Sunday as the 131st edition of the Wimbledon Championships came to an end.

Celebrated all around the world as the most prestigious event on the tennis circuit, the event served up its usual course of exciting matches, unbelievable points, familiar winners, and debut breakthroughs.

On the men’s side, Swiss maestro Roger Federer notched up his eighth title at the All England Club after brushing aside Croat powerhouse Marin Cilic.

In the women’s draw, Garbine Muguruza of Spain emerged victorious after overcoming American veteran Venus Williams for her debut title at the All England Club.

Łukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo won the men’s doubles title, while Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina won the women’s doubles. In mixed doubles, exploits were shared by Jamie Murray and Martina Hingis.

The players fight for glory on the courts, but it helps to be incentivised for their performances.

This year, the All England Club awarded a staggering £31.6 million in total prize money.

This was up by 12.5 percent from last year, with both men’s and women’s single champions receiving an unprecedented £2.2 million.

Here is a detailed list of the prize money handed out at The Championships this year:

Men's and Women's Singles –
Winner: £2.2 million
Runner-up: £1.1 million
Semi-finalists: £550,000
Quarter-finalists: £275,000
Fourth Round: £147,000
Third Round: £90,000
Second Round: £57,000

Men's and Women's Doubles (per pair) –
Winners: £400,000
Runner-up: £200,000
Semi-finalists: £100,000
Quarter-finalists: £50,000
Third Round: £26,500
Second Round: £16,500
First Round: £10,750

Mixed doubles –
Winners: £100,000
Runner-up: £50,000
Semi-finalists: £25,000
Quarter-finalists: £12,000
Third Round: £6,000
Second Round: £3,000
First Round: £1,500

Over the years, Wimbledon has steadily increased the prize money at all levels, paying special attention to players exiting from the first few rounds.

This has been done to encourage lower ranked players, although this policy also caused a fair bit of controversy in the first week at this year’s Championships.

Many players retired in the first round, causing critics to note that unfit players have an incentive to ‘show up’ in the first round and collect their customary payday at the end of the match.

We have to see how Wimbledon approaches this problem in the next year’s edition.