WIMBLEDON, England -- Prize money at Wimbledon is going up by 4.7 per cent.
The All England Club said Tuesday that the total prize fund for this summer's championships will be 11.8 million pounds (C$23.5 million).
The men's and women's champions will each get 750,000 pounds (C$1.49 million) -- a 7.1 per cent increase from 2007. Last year marked the first time that women earned equal prize money at the grass-court Grand Slam.
The French Open champions will get 1 million euros (C$1.56 million) at the clay-court tournament in June. The U.S. Open usually pays the highest prize money of the four majors.
"We decide what we think is a decent increase and this year we decided for the winners and the general pool it was a good increase," All England Club chief executive Ian Ritchie told The Associated Press.
"I don't think we necessarily chase being the biggest. We just want to be competitive. The increases we've announced means we're competitive and if the exchange rates mean we're not the biggest, well so be it."
Wimbledon, meanwhile, is continuing with the installation of a retractable roof over Centre Court.
The green overhang was removed last year, leaving the court more open to the elements. The overhang is back this year, along with 1,200 extra seats, taking the capacity to 15,000 for the June 23-July 6 tournament.
Construction on the roof is on schedule and will be completed in time for next year's tournament.
On Tuesday, the first of 10 70-ton support structures spanning 75 metres were lifted by cranes over Centre Court. A second will be lifted on Wednesday and the remaining eight next year.
"Through the new Centre Court facilities and the increased use of digital technology, we want to ensure that Wimbledon remains the tournament the players want to win and that internationally, everyone wants to watch," All England Club chairman Tim Phillips said.
New digital scoreboards will also be installed, combining scores and the Hawk-Eye line-call challenge system as well as video. But don't expect live replays just yet.
"We won't have replays during the match certainly for this year," Ritchie said. "We feel if it's too instantaneous it maybe will detract from the match itself.
"We'll show some video after the matches have finished, in-between matches. In 2009 we'll produce a lot better content. We're going to be a lot more conservative with it this year."
Wimbledon is also looking to install similar screens around the grounds, including on the grassy hill near Court 1.
Amid works to upgrade the whole site, Court No. 2 will be closed and Court No. 11 will stand in as a show court for the now demolished Court No. 13.
Wimbledon has also upheld its policy of not scheduling play on the middle Sunday unless there is a major backlog of matches caused by bad weather.
"Play on the middle Sunday creates its own tensions in the future order of play and therefore at Wimbledon will continue to remain an emergency option," Phillips said.
And the traditional sidewalk queues for spectators waiting for tickets will be no longer. Because of health and safety reasons, there will be one single queue in nearby Wimbledon Park for those wishing to camp overnight for day tickets.
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