WIMBLEDON is BACK and while the tournament tends to be a stickler for tradition, there are a host of changes this year.
The iconic tennis tournament never fails to bring the drama as the best tennis players in the world battle it out on the grass courts of .
What are the Wimbledon 2025 rule changes?
Some ahead of this year – some that will massively affect the players, spectators and those involved in the tournament.
The decisions made by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) to alter certain aspects of the Championship have .
But while the has already brought some attention, let’s take a look at each rule change individually, assessing their impact.
Prize pot changes
Winning a Grand Slam like can be life-changing.
For those who lift the trophy, their careers are changed forever, as they immediately become the ones to watch for the rest of the season.
What’s more, the prize money for taking home the title can set players up for life, alongside a plethora of brand deals and endorsements.
Last year, two-time tournament champion and second-time Grand Slam winner both took home a whopping £2.7m.
However, the grass Grand Slam title winners – men’s and women’s – this year will receive £3m, which is a considerable £300,000 increase.
The overall prize pot is seven per cent bigger, rising from £50m to £53.5m.
Why has the prize pot increased?
Alongside the increase in winners’ earnings, the total prize pot has also risen.
This year the tournament-wide prize earnings stands at £53.5m, which is £3m more than in 2024.
This means an increase for finalists, semi-finalists and all the way down to the first-round losers.
For those knocked out in the first round they will now receive £66,000, which is a rise of 10 per cent.
It comes after the , co-founded by , who demanded significant improvement in prize money at the four Grand Slams.
The group was formed to ensure that there was a more equitable way to distribute revenue throughout the year, due to the costs involved with life on tour.
The AELTC chair Deborah Jevans said: “We have listened to the players. We have engaged with the players.
“But the focus on just the prize money at the four events, the Grand Slams, does not get to the heart of what the challenge is with tennis.
“The challenge with tennis is the fact that the players don’t have an offseason, which they want; they have increasing injuries that they’re speaking about.”;
What time are the Wimbledon 2025 finals?
For regular watchers, the routine of turning on the telly at 2pm to watch the men’s and women’s finals on the last weekend runs like clockwork.
But fans will have to break this habit this year as organisers have pushed the start time of the finals to 4pm.
As a result, the women’s and men’s doubles, which were previously held after the singles finals, will now be held before at 1pm on the last weekend – whetting the appetite of tennis fans before the final showdowns.
The decision was made after TV viewing figure failed to match the numbers of the previous year, drawing in almost half a million fewer spectators than in 2023.
Will there be line judges at Wimbledon 2025?
The most controversial alteration made to this year’s tournament is the removal of line judges.
Instead, the Championship will join the and in the use of electronic line calling on all courts.
For fans, that means no more viral videos of balls being launched at the line judges and for the players, it means no risk of disqualification for launching it at them – à la .
The All England Club said: “The decision to adopt Live ELC was made following the successful completion of extensive testing during last year’s Championships and builds on the existing ball tracking and line calling technology that has been in place for many years.”;
It is the end of a , and means that the 300 line judges who have been cut are now out of work.
For 80 of the line judges, it is not the end of their time at the Championship, however, as they will be used as ‘match assistants’.
They will be there to escort players who need to leave the court, but also to pick up the slack when technology fails.
