Wimbledon singles champs to receive about $3 million

Prize money keeps going up at Wimbledon, with first-round losers as well as champions cashing in on record rewards.

The All England Club announced on Tuesday prize money for this year's grass-court Grand Slam will increase by 7 percent to reach a total of 26.75 million pounds ($40.60 million).

The men's and women's singles champions will each receive 1.88 million pounds. The prize fund will be "the highest ever in professional tennis", surpassing last year's US Open purse of $38.25 million.

In the space of four years, Wimbledon's purse has almost doubled in size from the 14.6 million pounds on offer in 2011.

The increase has also filtered down to the early stages of the tournament.

A first-round loser this year will receive 29,000 pounds, a 7 percent increase from the 27,000 pounds offered last year.

Tournament chairman Philip Brook said the prize money helps preserve Wimbledon's premier status and rejected suggestions the winners are overpaid.

"I think without the world's best tennis players, we wouldn't have the world's best tennis tournament," Brook said.

"We recognize the players are an essential ingredient of our championships and this level of prize money is affordable for these championships and therefore we feel it is important that we should reflect that in what we pay the players."

The prize money for the singles winners will rise 7 percent from the 1.76 million pounds won by last year's champions Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova.

Men's and women's doubles winners will earn 340,000 pounds, an increase of 15,000 pounds, while mixed doubles winners will receive a rise of 4 percent to 100,000 pounds.

Wimbledon will run from June 29 to July 12. The break between the French Open and Wimbledon, normally two weeks, has been extended to three weeks for the first time this year.

The All England Club also said Hawk-Eye technology will be used on Courts 12 and 18, making it six courts in total equipped with the line-calling system.