The 2022 championships were the 135th edition, the 128th staging of the ladies’ singles championship event, the 54th in the Open Era, and the third Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament was being run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and included in the 2022 ATP Tour and the 2022 WTA Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category, as well as the 2022 ITF tours for junior and wheelchair competitions respectively. The tournament consisted of men's (singles and doubles), women's (singles and doubles), mixed doubles, boys' (under 18 – singles and doubles, under 14 – singles), girls' (under 18 – singles and doubles, under 14 – singles), which were a part of the Grade A category of tournaments for under 18, and singles & doubles events for men's and women's wheelchair tennis players. This edition marked the return of the gentlemen's and ladies' invitational doubles competitions for the first time since 2019, along with the introduction of a new mixed invitational doubles draw.[citation needed]
This was the tournament's first edition with a scheduled order of play on the first Sunday during the event, dubbed "Middle Sunday". Prior to the 2022 edition, the tournament had seen only four exceptions to the tradition of withholding competition on Middle Sunday to accommodate delayed matches during championships that were heavily disrupted by rain.[6] Additionally, this was the first edition of the tournament to have a champions tie break rule in the final set. Unlike in 2019 and 2021, which had a standard seven-point tie break at 12 games all in the final set, this tie break was played up to 10 points when a match reaches 6 games all, to be won by two clear points to win the match. [7]
The Wimbledon Championships total prize money for 2022 is a record £40,350,000, an increase of 15.23% compared to 2021 and 6.18% vs 2019 when the event was last played with a full capacity crowd.[9]
Event
W
F
SF
QF
Round of 16
Round of 32
Round of 64
Round of 1281
Q3
Q2
Q1
Singles
£2,000,000
£1,050,000
£535,000
£310,000
£190,000
£120,000
£78,000
£50,000
£32,000
£19,000
£11,000
Doubles *
£540,000
£270,000
£135,000
£67,000
£33,000
£20,000
£12,500
—
—
—
—
Mixed Doubles *
£124,000
£62,000
£31,000
£16,000
£7,500
£3,750
—
—
—
—
—
Wheelchair Singles
£51,000
£26,000
£17,500
£12,000
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Wheelchair Doubles *
£22,000
£11,000
£6,500
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Quad Singles
£51,000
£26,000
£17,500
£12,000
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Quad Doubles *
£22,000
£11,000
£6,500
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
*per team
Controversy regarding the participation of Russian and Belarusian players
In April 2022, the AELTC announced that players representing Russia or Belarus would not be allowed to enter the upcoming Championships as a consequence of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, stating that "it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players",[10] and citing guidance given by the British government.[11] The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) also banned players representing Russia and Belarus from other tennis tournaments taking place in the UK.[12] Outside of the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup, players from these countries were allowed to compete in other tournaments, including at the Grand Slam level at the year's French Open and US Open, as neutral players without national flags.[13]
The ban attracted criticism from many players, including from defending and six-time champion Novak Djokovic, who described it as "crazy".[14]Andrey Rublev, one of the players affected by the ban, accused the AELTC of making an "illogical" and "discriminatory" decision.[15] Others, such as Ukrainians Marta Kostyuk and Sergiy Stakhovsky, came out in support of the ban.[16] The three international governing bodies of tennis—the ATP, WTA, and ITF—criticised the decision, and on 20 May 2022 they stripped the tournament of its ranking points, on the bases that participation should be based on merit rather than nationality and that the unilateral decision by the AELTC contrasts with the remainder of the tour.[17] This decision received criticism as well, with two-time men's singles champion Andy Murray commenting that the removal of ranking points will likely not affect participation in the event and has frustrated players.[18]
The WTA and the ATP each levied $1 million in fines against the AELTC and the LTA as a consequence of the ban.[19][20]
