Novak Djokovic got his Olympic gold, but he isn’t No. 1 among the top 10 players, who collectively earned $246 million over the last 12 months.
By Brett Knight, Forbes Staff
Since turning pro in 2003, Novak Djokovic has piled up a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles, staking his claim as tennis’ greatest of all time. But no matter how many titles he won, he never ranked higher than No. 2 on the list of the sport’s highest-paid players—until Roger Federer’s retirement in 2022. The following year, Djokovic finally seized the top spot, with a combined $38.4 million in on-court and estimated off-court earnings.
As it turned out, his reign lasted exactly one year. The 37-year-old Serbian superstar’s next great rival, 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, has jumped to No. 1 this year with an estimated $42.3 million before taxes and agent’s fees over the last 12 months, dating to the 2023 U.S. Open.
Djokovic, who fell to Alcaraz in the last two Wimbledon finals but got revenge in the gold-medal match at the Paris Olympics, is back at No. 2 with $37.2 million and still leads the way with $12.2 million in prize money alone. Tennis insiders, however, now firmly believe that Alcaraz has the edge off the court, with an estimated $32 million coming from his endorsements (including Nike, Rolex and BMW) as well as a jam-packed schedule of appearances and exhibitions that are believed to pay him $1 million—or even $2 million—just for showing up.
In all, tennis’ 10 highest-paid players earned an estimated $246 million over the past 12 months. That is well off the record of $343 million from 2020—when the now-retired Federer and Serena Williams accounted for $142 million between them—but the total represents a 26% increase from 2023’s $196 million.
In another promising sign for the state of tennis, the average age of this year’s top 10 is 26, with only Djokovic and 38-year-old Rafael Nadal (No. 6, $23.3 million) outside their 20s. (By contrast, the 2020 list’s average age was just a hair under 30.) And four women are among the top 10—down slightly from five in 2023, but another reminder that tennis is the only major professional sport in which male and female athletes are on comparable financial footing.
No one is yet approaching the financial stratosphere of Federer, who was the sport’s top earner from 2007 until his retirement and was still collecting an estimated $90 million annually when he hung up his racket. But Alcaraz’s $42.3 million is the best total by a player not named Federer, Djokovic, Naomi Osaka or Nadal in the 17 years that Forbes has compiled a tennis earnings ranking. And he has racked up four Grand Slam titles before his 22nd birthday—meaning the future of tennis is already here.
The World’s Highest-Paid Tennis Players 2024
#1. $42.3 million
AGE: 21 | NATIONALITY: Spain | ON-COURT: $10.3 mil • OFF-COURT: $32 mil
Carl Recine/getty images
As a Spaniard who excels on clay courts, Alcaraz began drawing comparisons to Rafael Nadal early in his career. The connections between the two players deepened this year as they faced off in an exhibition on Netflix in March and teamed up in doubles at the Paris Olympics in July—and as Alcaraz took over Nadal’s throne at the French Open in June. Alcaraz, who also captured an Olympic silver medal in singles and is now third in the world rankings, is the betting favorite at the U.S. Open, which he previously won in 2022 and which would give him three major titles this calendar year. Netflix can’t get enough: The streamer plans to release a docuseries about him next year.
#2. $37.2 million
AGE: 37 | NATIONALITY: Serbia | ON-COURT: $12.2 mil • OFF-COURT: $25 mil
RvS.Media/Robert Hradil/getty images
Djokovic was the ATP Tour’s year-end No. 1 player for an unprecedented eighth season in 2023 and became the oldest No. 1 in the history of the tour’s computerized singles rankings in April. He ended up extending his record for most weeks at No. 1 to 428 and then filled the lone hole in his astonishing résumé with an Olympic gold medal in Paris—an accomplishment that also earned him a $218,000 bonus from his native Serbia. Djokovic, who now sits at No. 2 in men’s singles, split with his longtime agent Edoardo Artaldi last year but maintains a lucrative endorsement portfolio that includes Asics, Head, Hublot and Lacoste. With his sponsor Waterdrop, he recently launched a line of “electrolyte hydration cubes” called Sila, and he is a cofounder of the Professional Tennis Players Association, which struck a deal in February to give members access to more than 1,500 airport lounges. This month, President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia said there have been discussions about building a Djokovic museum in Belgrade.
#3. $27.1 million
AGE: 20 | NATIONALITY: U.S. | ON-COURT: $7.1 mil • OFF-COURT: $20 mil
Daniel Kopatsch/getty images
Gauff’s major breakthrough with a singles championship at the 2023 U.S. Open—and her follow-up with a doubles title at this year’s French Open—gave marketers one more reason to chase the young American star, who has pursued a steady strategy off the court but has still found herself among the sport’s best paid. Ranked third in women’s singles and 15th in doubles, Gauff now has 11 long-term partnerships, with hair care line Carol’s Daughter, Naked Brand juices and Fanatics the most recent additions, and she is behind a new fashion collection with American Eagle. At the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony in July, she served as Team USA’s flag-bearer, alongside LeBron James, and she will be appearing on a limited-edition box of Wheaties.
#4. $26.7 million
AGE: 23 | NATIONALITY: Poland | ON-COURT: $11.7 mil • OFF-COURT: $15 mil
Robert Prange/getty images
After prevailing at the French Open for a fourth time in June, Swiatek earned a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, securing a $50,000 bonus from her native Poland on top of nearly $11.7 million in prize money over the last 12 months. Only Novak Djokovic tops that figure, and by less than $300,000—no small feat considering that the prize money available to women still lags behind the men’s at some tournaments beyond the four majors. (Swiatek made $700,000 for her triumph at the Italian Open in May, for instance, while Alexander Zverev got $1.05 million for winning the men’s tournament.) Swiatek, though, has expressed concern about the playing schedule that produced those paychecks. “Obviously it’s not our decision, but for sure I think we have too many tournaments in the season,” she said in an on-court interview at the Cincinnati Open this month. “It’s not going to end well.” Swiatek stays busy off the court, too, signing partner deals this year with Lego and Lancôme.
#5. $26.6 million
AGE: 23 | NATIONALITY: Italy | ON-COURT: $11.6 mil • OFF-COURT: $15 mil
DAVID GRAY/AFP/Getty Images
Sinner’s rollercoaster year took a dip this month when it was revealed he tested positive for a banned steroid in March and had to forfeit the prize money and ranking points he had earned at the Indian Wells tournament. But the International Tennis Integrity Agency found that the low levels in his system were the result of contamination, and Sinner was not forced to miss any time on tour. While he did sit out the Paris Olympics because of tonsillitis and has been hampered by a hip injury, his season has taken him to new heights as well. Sinner’s victory at the Australian Open in January was the first Grand Slam title for an Italian man in 48 years, he launched himself to No. 1 in the singles rankings in June, and he won the Cincinnati Open this month to assure his place among the U.S. Open favorites. Off the court, he picked up endorsements with skincare line La Roche-Posay and De Cecco pasta, alongside existing sponsors like Gucci, Lavazza coffee and Rolex.
#6. $23.3 million
AGE: 38 | NATIONALITY: Spain | ON-COURT: $0.3 mil • OFF-COURT: $23 mil
vcg/getty images
Nadal hasn’t set an official date for his retirement—“I’m not in a hurry to make a decision about my future,” he recently told Spanish newspaper Marca—but it’s clear the end is near for the legendary Spaniard, who withdrew from the U.S. Open earlier this month. For now, he is set to play in the Laver Cup in Berlin in September—the team tournament where, incidentally, Roger Federer bade farewell to competitive tennis in 2022. Nadal already had an Olympic sendoff in which he participated in the cauldron lighting along with retired sports stars Nadia Comaneci, Carl Lewis and Serena Williams, and he has played just six ATP Tour events in the last 19 months. Such a limited schedule would torpedo the pay of most athletes, especially in tennis, where sponsors often reduce their rates for players who fall in the rankings or miss time. But Nadal is not most athletes. The 22-time Grand Slam winner has long-standing relationships with many of his sponsors—he just had his 20th anniversary with Kia—and he has inked a new deal with Infosys and invested in racket sports booking company Playtomic while pairing up with Federer for a Louis Vuitton campaign. Nadal has also become an ambassador for the Saudi Arabian tennis federation, an arrangement that has generated backlash from fans but is widely believed to be paying him seven figures annually.
#7. $20.3 million
AGE: 28 | NATIONALITY: Russia | ON-COURT: $7.3 mil • OFF-COURT: $13 mil
Frey/TPN/getty images
Medvedev has a single Grand Slam win—in Flushing Meadows in 2021—but he has reached five other major finals, including the 2019 and 2023 U.S. Opens and this year’s Australian Open. His runner-up finish in Melbourne also gave him records for the most sets played at a Grand Slam tournament (31) and the most time spent on court (24 hours 17 minutes). In December, Medvedev’s team won the World Tennis League—a mixed-gender exhibition tournament that also featured Casper Ruud, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, among other stars—and he is set to play in the 6 Kings Slam, an exhibition in Saudi Arabia in October, alongside Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner. An avid gamer, Medvedev has partnerships with HyperX gaming headsets and game makers EA Sports and Ubisoft, and he joined the ownership group of esports organization M80 last year.
#8. $14.6 million
AGE: 26 | NATIONALITY: Japan | ON-COURT: $0.6 mil • OFF-COURT: $14 mil
Icon Sportswire/getty images
Osaka returned to the court in January, after injuries and then childbirth had sidelined her since September 2022. As she tries to return to the form that brought her four major titles by age 23, she wrote on Instagram this month about her difficult postpartum transition back to tennis, saying: “I don’t understand why everything has to feel almost brand new again. This should be as simple as breathing to me, but it’s not, and I genuinely did not give myself grace for that fact until just now.” Osaka’s long layoff and her inconsistent play this year have dropped her singles ranking to No. 85—meaning she needed a wild card to get into the U.S. Open draw—but the frank way she is discussing her struggles helps explain the hold she continues to have on sponsors. Osaka has new partnerships with Etsy, Maybelline, Meta AI and ZICO Coconut Water, and her media company, Hana Kuma, recently launched a program to create brand campaigns for LPGA Tour golfers. The company is also developing an adult anime TV series, with Osaka set to be a voice actor as well as executive producer.
#9. $13.9 million
AGE: 25 | NATIONALITY: Norway | ON-COURT: $3.9 mil • OFF-COURT: $10 mil
Franco Arland/getty images
Ruud claimed his 12th career ATP Tour title in May in Geneva. Eleven have come on clay, but when he is healthy—a parasite hindered him in the spring, and an illness knocked him out of this month’s tournament in Montreal—Ruud can compete on any surface. He is the only man 25 or younger with at least 100 career victories on both hardcourts and clay. Off the court, Ruud has added deals with Fleming watches, Swedish bank Handelsbanken and Renault, on top of a half-dozen existing sponsors.
#10. $13.7 million
AGE: 26 | NATIONALITY: Belarus | ON-COURT: $6.7 mil • OFF-COURT: $7 mil
Robert Prange/Getty Images
After winning a second straight Australian Open title in January, Sabalenka missed Wimbledon with a shoulder injury, and she chose to skip the Olympics to rest. But she roared back to win this month’s Cincinnati Open, halting Jessica Pegula’s winning streak at the U.S. Open tune-up and climbing back to No. 2 in the singles rankings. Sabalenka now enters the U.S. Open as the betting favorite, looking to improve on 2023’s runner-up finish. Away from tennis, she recently reeled in endorsements with açaí bowl chain Oakberry and Master & Dynamic headphones.
METHODOLOGY
On-court earnings figures reflect prize money and Olympic medal bonuses collected over the last 12 months, dating to the 2023 U.S. Open, and are rounded to the nearest $100,000. Off-court earnings estimates are determined through conversations with industry insiders and reflect income (rounded to the nearest $1 million) from endorsements, appearances, licensing and memorabilia, as well as cash returns from any businesses in which the athlete has a significant interest. The list includes athletes active during the 12-month time period.
Forbes does not include investment income such as interest payments or dividends but does account for payouts from equity stakes athletes have sold. Forbes does not deduct for taxes or agents’ fees.
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