Prize money at Wimbledon on the up

The overall prize money at this year's Wimbledon will jump 11 per cent to a record £25 million (€30.2 million) with the men's and women's champions due to be rewarded with a cool £1.76 million (€2.13 million) each.

Prize money increases also raise the purse for runners-up and semi-finalists by 10 per cent, and the quarter-finalists by 10.2 per cent.

Wimbledon bosses are also busy putting the finishing touches to the planning application to build a roof on court number one. With the application due to be submitted later this year, the aim is to complete the work in time for the 2019 tournament.

The alterations will add 900 extra seats, taking the capacity to 12,400, and the roof will be built from the same materials as centre court, with the same climate-control systems.

Wimbledon will be played on 17 courts in 2014, while renovations to courts 14 and 15 are completed.

A host of stars complained of injuries due to slippery courts last year, but Wimbledon bosses said there is no need to make alterations.

"I think in hindsight that was more of an anecdotal problem over a couple of days, and only one or two players took issue with it," said All England Lawn Tennis Club chief executive Richard Lewis.

“Wimbledon is played on a natural surface and of course the conditions change over the duration of the tournament. So we don’t feel there are any issues to address on that.”