In 2013, the year after the Olympic Games are staged in London and a century on from the “World Championships of Grass” being awarded to the British Isles in perpetuity for services rendered to tennis, the first instalment of a £55 million dividend of the unparalleled growth of Wimbledon will be pumped into the sport’s domestic coffers.

The All England Club and the LTA have reached a landmark stage in the 86-year joint ownership of the championships that often appeared cosy for both sides and now releases each to take more decisions in the manner they see fit.

Tim Phillips, the chairman of the All England Club, described it as a “win-win” situation, but that will be the case only if Wimbledon sustains its place as the premier championships in the world and the LTA inspires more people to play tennis at more affordable prices in more convenient locations.

On August 1, 2013 — once the agreement is ratified — the club will acquire from the LTA its 50 per cent share of All England Lawn Tennis Ground, the company that owns the Wimbledon site and its facilities, amounting to £55 million in capital to be paid in agreed increments and invested in the sport’s infrastructure. For its part, the club will then become sole owner of the venue in SW19, in return for which 90 per cent of the annual surplus from the championships will be guaranteed to the LTA every year until 2053.

This ground-breaking announcement came on the day the club revealed that its surplus from this year’s championships is £25,667,000, a £600,000 increase on last year’s figure and precisely £25,663,219 more than was banked in 1913, when tickets for the men’s singles final — or challenge round as it was known in pre-First World War days — were fetching £7 10s (£7.50), a princely sum.

Phillips said: “I see this as only good for British tennis and good for the championships, because a division means we will be able to concentrate on delivering the best event we can and the LTA can concentrate on propagating tennis throughout the country. Our central task is to maintain the championships as the premier tennis event in the world, with facilities to match, and we can continue that by securing 10 per cent of the surplus, which helps fund our long-term plans.”

The make-up of the Ground company is three directors from the club and three from the LTA; that will switch to a 6-2 split in the club’s favour in 2013. A joint finance committee will continue to decide how the surplus should be distributed for the wider benefit of British tennis, but from 2013 and for the next 40 years, the LTA will have the casting vote.

Stuart Smith, whose three-year term as LTA president expires next month, said: “The long-term stability of this agreement provides a foundation for us to continue in our efforts to boost income from other sources, necessary to grow the sport, increase success and build facilities across the country.”

It will also turn up the pressure on the LTA to deliver on the “Winning” vision of its 2006 blueprint, which boldly targeted British players winning grand-slam tournaments, ATP events, WTA, ITF and Tennis Europe tournaments and, ultimately, the Davis Cup and Fed Cup. Andy Murray, the world No 4, and Anne Keothavong, at a career-high ranking of No 61, are our only two players in the top 100.

To achieve that, the focus was threefold — to get the best coaches working with the best talent in the best facilities; to provide the best technical and sports science support; and establishing a high-quality competitive framework that gives juniors the stimulus to get on, and stay on, a winning path.

“These are the drivers we will use to create a climate of success and a culture with winning at the heart of everything we do, from community, schools and parks to clubs and all the way through to Centre Court,” the LTA said at its launch. It will soon have 55 million further reasons not to fail.