The All England Lawn Tennis Club chief executive Richard Lewis has defended the increased prize money on offer at Wimbledon.

Both singles winners will receive £1.88m at this year's event, which is £120,000 more than the amounts picked up by Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova 12 months ago.

However, Lewis insists that the players "deserve" the vast sums of money up for grabs at the historic Grand Slam event.

"We think the players deserve it, it's that simple," he is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News. "We can afford to pay it and therefore we should pay it.

"Wimbledon is a hugely successful event. It's a global sporting event and one of the most successful in the world. The players are the centre part in that. Without the players, we don't exist so we think the prize money is appropriate.

"We don't think there's anything wrong with paying somebody who is one of the world's best players in a truly global sport. If you're in the top 100 to 120 in the world, you play at Wimbledon. The winners are superstars and aren't overpaid compared to sportsmen and women in other sports."

Reigning men's singles champ Djokovic gets his campaign underway at 1pm this afternoon.