Wimbledon Champions Get Pay Boost

All England Club chairman Tim Phillips said the increase was necessary to offset exchange rate implications and to help maintain the tournament's standing among players.

"Most of the players here don't bank in sterling," Phillips told Press Association.

"We have to be mindful of the fact that a year ago it was two dollars to the pound and now it's less than one pound fifty."

Overall prize money on a sterling basis is going up by 6.2 percent from £11.8 million to £12.55 million ($18.38 million).

The Centre Court roof weighs 1,000 tons, covers 5,200 square meters and takes 10 minutes to close. Final testing of the roof and its air-management system is being carried out.

An exhibition event on May 17 with former Wimbledon champions Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi, Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters will test the new roof before a sellout crowd of 15,000 spectators, 1,200 more than last year’s capacity.

The new roof may lead to matches being played after dark for the first time in Wimbledon history because the refurbished court has been fitted with lights.

“We don’t want to see night-time sessions, but if it gets dark, we will close it,” Ian Ritchie, the club’s chief executive officer, said. “It is an obligation,” to television viewers and spectators that matches scheduled on Centre Court get finished, he added.