Wimbledon Joins 21st Century

The All England Club announced yesterday that its more than century old imitation of Rip Van Winkle was over and that, yes indeed, the 21st century had in fact reached the lush, green and heavily rain soaked lawns of Wimbledon. Beginning with this year's edition of the The Championships, the prize money for the men and women will now be equal. The total purse for this year hasn't been announced but last year, Roger Federer won 655,000 pounds while Amelie Mauresmo got 625,000 pounds for winning the women's side. The WTA has been lobbying to equalize the prize money for years, with the pressure ramping up in recent years to the point that even Prime Minister Tony Blair started lobbying last year.

The move by the All England Club brings Wimbledon in line with two of the other three Grand Slam events: the US Open and Australian Open. The French Open only pays equal prize money to the champions.

Welcome to the world, All England Club directors. We're glad you're finally awake - you've missed a lot. In case you're wondering, your country is at war and your prince, Harry, has just been deployed to the front. Just thought you might want to know. Oh, and London is going to host the Olympics in 2012 - better start getting ready. We know how long it takes you to do anything.