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maltatoday WEDNESDAY 2 MAY 2018 21 Sport TENNIS FORMULA 1 Prize pot of 34 million pounds on offer at 'greener' Wimbledon WIMBLEDON announced a hefty prize-pot hike yesterday, along with a new sustainabil- ity project aimed at ensuring it is not just the grass courts that remain green at the All England Club. Organisers of the oldest grand slam tournament re- vealed a prize fund of 34 million pounds for the 2018 championships, up 7.6 percent from last year. That figure includes awards of 2.25 million pounds each for the men's and women's champions – an increase on the 2.2 million pounds Roger Federer and Garbine Mugu- ruza received in 2017. Organisers also issued a warning that players who compete while knowingly car- rying an injury, and quit mid- match, face being docked all their first-round prize money. The move is aimed at prevent- ing a repeat of the rash of re- tirements in early action last year. "In the wake of first-round withdrawals we pledged to act on it, and we have done so," Wimbledon chief executive Richard Lewis told reporters. "We were very inf luential in the creation and adoption of the 50-50 rule and hope the introduction of it will play a significant role in mitigating the problems of first-round singles retirements." Under the new rule, if an in- jured player withdraws onsite after midday on the Thursday before the Championships they will receive 50 percent of the first-round prize money. The replacement "lucky-loser" will get the other 50 percent. With pound signs dominat- ing the headlines at the club in leafy south-west London, tournament organisers also underlined their commitment to combating corruption in the sport and rolling out a sus- tainability programme. Central to the "greening" of the championships is a ban on plastic straws — some 400,000 were used at last year's tournament — the in- troduction of electric vehicles in the courtesy car f leet; addi- tional water-fill points around the grounds and the provision of paper bags at Wimbledon's shops. "Sustainability is an important and necessary area of focus, particularly for major events," Lewis said. "We have put in place a sustainability vision which is to sustain the running of the club, and the championships in a way that minimises the impact on our environment." Organisers also reiterated they would be implementing rules first announced last No- vember. In addition to stripping play- ers of their first-round prize money if they pull out of a match or perform to what the club deems "below profes- sional standards", Wimbledon will strictly enforce warm-up timing to speed up the game, but will also extend the time allowed between points from 20 to 25 seconds. Wimbledon's 2018 prize money eclipses the 55 mil- lion Australian dollars (30.2 million pounds) paid out at January's first grand slam of the year in Melbourne, but at current exchange rates is just shy of the 39.2 million Euros (34.5 million pounds) on offer at the French Open starting later this month. The US Open, the final grand slam of the tennis calendar starting in August, is yet to announce its prize money. Wimbledon, the only grand slam event to be played on grass, will take place between July 2-15. This year's championships mark the 150th anniversary of the club, 50 years of Open ten- nis and 125 years of the wom- en's singles championships. Formula One approves aerodynamic rule changes for 2019 FORMULA One has approved aerodynamic rule changes for 2019 aimed at promoting clos- er racing by making it easier for cars to overtake, the sport's governing body said yesterday. The measures include a sim- plified front wing with a larger span, front brake ducts with- out winglets and a wider and deeper rear wing. The International Automo- bile Federation (FIA) said its Formula One commission, Strategy Group and World Motor Sport Council had ap- proved the changes. The changes should reduce turbulence for cars that are following each other, and come after criticism of the lack of overtaking in some races. The FIA said the vote, on the last day before unanimous agreement is required for any 2019 regulation changes, fol- lowed research carried out by a majority of the teams and backed by commercial rights holders Liberty Media. "These studies indicated the strong likelihood of a positive impact on racing and over- taking within F1 and as such have now been ratified for implementation in 2019," the statement added. "The approved changes are separate to the ongoing work being undertaken in regard to defining Formula One's regu- lations for 2021 and beyond." Motorsport.com suggested several teams, including Fer- rari and Red Bull, had been opposed to the proposals but were outvoted. Formula One's current agreements with teams expire at the end of 2020 and all par- ties are discussing what kind of engine and rules should be introduced after that. Liberty want to level the playing field, reduce the costs and introduce a more equal distribution of the revenues. Only three of the 10 teams — Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull — have won races in the V6 turbo hybrid era that start- ed in 2014 and Mercedes have so far won every champion- ship. The FIA said it was con- tinuing to evaluate a range of other measures to encourage closer racing.