Double Wimbledon Champion Hopes Prize Money Gap Will Narrow

Gordon Reid won £25,000 for his wheelchair singles title and split £12,000 with Alfie Hewett in the doubles. Whereas fellow Scot and Wimbledon champion, Andy Murray collected a whopping £2million for his second singles title.

Credit Where Credit’s Due

“We’ve got to be realistic – it’s going to be a smaller percentage that goes to us, but I’d like to see the gap close a little bit at least,” commented Reid.

The 24 year old champion continues: “With all the interest, support we’ve had, and the amount of entertainment we provided as well, hopefully we’ll be rewarded for that in the future. It’s not what I do this for. It’s not what I play the sport for. It’s not what I train for. It’s just kind of a nice bonus on the side.”

Although wheelchair tennis has been played at Wimbledon for a decade, this was the first year a men’s and women’s singles featured. This year’s event featured eight top players, with Reid beating Frenchman, Nicolas Peifer in the quarter-finals, Belgian, Joachim Gerard in the semi-final, and Sweden’s Paralympic champion, Stefan Olsson in the final.

The Future

Next on the agenda for the Glasgow born tennis star is his third Paralympic Games. Reid suffers from a neurological condition called transverse myelitis and is able to walk.

“Some people think I’m a fraud sometimes when I walk in,” he told BBC Scotland in an interview.

He explained: “The thing with wheelchair tennis and a lot of disability sport is you see a lot of different types of disability. For me, I can walk, I can stand but I can’t run, so that’s why I need to use the chair to get around the court.”

In wheelchair tennis, there are two categories – the open division, which Gordon Reid plays in, which is for anyone with a lower limb disability, and then the quad division, which is for players with their upper body affected as well, three or more limbs.

“If you compare tennis to swimming, cycling or athletics, they’ve got so many more categories. It’s a tough debate that we have a lot but it’s probably going to be impossible to have a fully level playing field.”

Rio 2016

It’s not what I train for. It’s just kind of a nice bonus on the side

Eight years on from his Paralympics debut in Beijing, Reid is determined to succeed. Having lost in the quarter-finals in London four years ago his dream is be able to come home with two gold medals. One in the singles and one in the doubles.

“That’s what we’re working towards now, that’s what we’ve been working towards ever since London 2012.”

It won’t be easy for the Wimbledon champion as there are a lot of very good players currently at the top of the men’s game.  When Reid went to Beijing he was just aged 16 and lost in the first round in singles and doubles. In London, he went a little bit further and had the experience of playing in front of big crowds and under pressure.

He concluded: “For sure, that’s going to help me a lot going into Rio and just also the experience of the Grand Slams as well, that’s going to be a big help.”