Running from Monday 30 June until Sunday 13 July, the 2025 Wimbledon Championship is one of the most anticipated competitions on the sporting calendar.
Across two weeks, 128 elite tennis players in each of the gentlemen’s and ladies’ singles competitions will battle it out on grass in their bid to win England’s most prestigious tennis tournament, one of the four major Grand Slams of the sport. Alongside the singles, Wimbledon also features doubles, mixed doubles, junior, and wheelchair events, showcasing a broad and inclusive celebration of the game.
Wimbledon is a significant opportunity for players. With prize money, personal brand building and media exposure on offer, the competition is not just a chance to demonstrate superiority on the court, but to grow wealth, too.
As a result, the fortnight contest is full of lessons you could apply to your own life and career to ensure long-term financial independence.
Discover five of these lessons here.
1. Manage your prize money wisely
Wimbledon is one of the most lucrative events on the tennis calendar, offering some of the highest prize money available from the sport. However, unlike most traditional jobs, tennis players don’t have a guaranteed salary; their income depends heavily on winning matches, making earnings unpredictable and often irregular.
According to the BBC, the 2025 Wimbledon prize pot is a record £53.5 million. The winners of the singles titles will receive £3 million each, while players knocked out in the first round will receive £66,000. The gentlemen’s and ladies’ doubles winners will take home £680,000, with the mixed doubles winners taking home £135,000.
While these are impressive sums, they highlight why relying solely on prize money is risky. Although first-round prize money can be lucrative, especially for players ranked outside the top 100, tournament results remain unpredictable. Expecting to win the title but being knocked out early would cause a significant shortfall in anticipated earnings.
Athletes also face shorter career spans than most professions, which makes planning for long-term financial needs even more important.
So, this shows the importance of managing earnings from sport wisely. While it is important to enjoy some of the wealth you generate, it is crucial to set money aside for the future throughout your career.
It also highlights the potential danger of “lifestyle creep”, in which your spending increases alongside your earnings. If you then fail to earn the same amount in the following year, your lifestyle could exceed your income, putting you in a difficult position.
To this end, it can be worth saving and investing towards long-term goals, such as retiring from sport at a certain age or targeting a specific standard of living. A financial planner can assist you in calculating how much of your earnings to set aside so you can achieve what you want while still enjoying your lifestyle now.
2. Invest like a champion
Many Wimbledon champions are known for intelligently investing their tennis earnings, often expanding into other business interests. For example, Roger Federer, the holder of the most men’s singles Wimbledon titles with eight victories on grass, is well known for his estimated 3% stake in Swiss running shoe company, On.
When the company went public in 2021, Federer’s stake was reportedly worth more than $300 million. According to the ATP Tour website, that outstrips his $130 million in combined singles and doubles prize money.
Similarly, Serena Williams, the most decorated player in the Open Era with 23 grand slam singles titles, six of which came at Wimbledon, founded and backed a venture capital fund in 2017 called “Serena Ventures”. The fund owns a diverse range of companies, 14 of which Williams claims have achieved unicorn status – privately owned startups worth more than $1 billion.
Andy Murray, Britain’s most successful tennis player, has also taken a strategic approach to investing. He partnered with British sportswear brand Castore in 2019, acquiring a stake and helping create the AMC (Andy Murray Castore) collection. Beyond sportswear, Murray has invested in ventures including the Cromlix Hotel near his hometown, several tech companies, and a sports marketing agency.
These examples show the importance of investing your wealth in a range of assets. Whether through a portfolio of equities, properties, or businesses, you can grow your earnings by investing tactically. In doing so, you can create a solid, sustainable base for your post-career wealth.
3. Diversify your income through brand and business
Diversification is a key part of managing your income and your investments, and it could even be more lucrative than what you can earn from sport. As the examples of Federer and Williams show, stepping into different areas and spreading your wealth could help you grow it effectively.
You may want to consider all the avenues available for generating income. That might include:
- Sponsorships, whether with sports brands or other companies
- Speaking engagements, both during your playing career and after
- Media opportunities, including punditry or writing for publications
- Personal brands, generating income by starting a business around a growing or popular product or service, especially those that interest you.
Many players have expanded into different business interests like this. In fact, Wimbledon winners John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, and Billie Jean King are all set to appear as pundits for the BBC coverage of the tournament this year.
Meanwhile, many former players own businesses providing products and services. In fact, Serena Williams owns a fashion line, S by Serena, and a makeup brand, Wyn Beauty.
Similarly, Maria Sharapova owns a candy company, Sugarpova, among a range of other business interests.
Thanks to their profiles, these players were able to expand into these areas and increase their income streams. You have an opportunity to do the same.
4. Grow your media presence alongside your earnings
With your profile in mind, it is also worth thinking about how events such as Wimbledon increase your media visibility and presence. In turn, this offers opportunities to grow your wealth.
For example, after winning his first Wimbledon title in 2023, Carlos Alcaraz gained 700,000 more Instagram followers from before the final on Sunday to Monday morning. Estimates put his potential earnings on the platform at $42,600 for a sponsored post, $21,300 for a story, and $55,300 for a reel.
The lesson here is simple – think of your online presence as part of your financial portfolio, as it can offer you the chance to notably increase your wealth. Taking steps to grow it strategically, including posting content during competitions and after big sporting events, could be a sensible financial decision, as well as an effective way to engage with fans.
5. Be an entrepreneur as well as a top-level sportsperson
As you have seen across the examples in this article, for many Wimbledon champions, their playing careers are just an element of what defines them – they are entrepreneurs and investors, too.
These players were able to leverage their careers and expand into all kinds of products, services, and roles. You can do the same by being entrepreneurial and thinking beyond your sporting career alone.
A big part of this is in your mindset. Rather than thinking about sport as a way to generate a short-term income, it can be helpful to consider it as a method of wealth ownership, making use of all the means at your disposal to secure your financial future. In essence, it means treating your sporting career as a business.
That means smart, incisive decisions based on the information you have available, and carefully considered investments that help you succeed.
Of course, as any business owner will tell you, having a team of experienced professionals around you to provide advice is vital. You need trusted advisers who can guide you and ensure you make the right decisions now that serve you well down the line.
The sooner you start thinking in these terms, the more time you give the strategies you employ to work. In turn, that will give you a greater range of options in the future, especially for life after sport.
Get in touch
All these lessons highlight the value of strategic planning throughout your career so you can make the most of the wealth you earn from sport.
This is where we can help at ProSport. We can be your partner throughout your career and beyond, offering professional, expert advice to support you in creating lasting financial security.
Email enquiries@prosportwealth.co.uk or call 01204 602909 today to find out exactly what we can do for you.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.
The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Investments should be considered over the longer term and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances.