Female tennis players to receive equal prize money at Queen's Club Championships and Eastbourne Open by 2029

With WTA tennis returning to the Queen's Club Championships after more than 50 years away, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has announced it's intentions to offer equal prize money to female players at the event and the Eastbourne Open by 2029.

The inaugural HSBC Championships, which will take place at Queen's Club next week will feature a star-studded field with the likes of home hero Emma Raducanu, Australian Open champion Madison Keys and Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng all set to compete at the WTA 500 event.

The women's prize money this year is still less than their male counterparts

The prize money for this year's HSBC Championships will total $1.415m (approximately £1m) according to the LTA, the highest for a WTA 500 event of its draw size this year. However, that is still significantly less than the prize pot that will be paid out to the male players the following week for the equivalent tournament on the ATP Tour, as the men will receive almost twice that amount.

Additionally, the Eastbourne Open, a joint WTA and ATP event staged the week before Wimbledon beginning on June 23 has an even larger difference. The women's prize fund of $389,000 (approximately £287,000) is considerably less than £630,000 that will be paid to the men.

The LTA stated it's intention to establish parity by 2029, with their CEO, Scott Lloyd, standing behind their commitment to growing women's tennis.

"We are making significant increases this year to the women's prize money at Queen's and Eastbourne and want to achieve equal prize money as soon as possible," said Lloyd. "The LTA is committed to growing women's tennis, both at professional and grass-roots level, and this move is an important part of that commitment.
"This year fans will be able to enjoy both men's and women's tennis on the biggest stages that we can offer and we want to develop the tournaments so that the women's events deliver a path to profitability and greater visibility for the sport."