The 10 top-paid tennis players earned $241 million over the last 12 months with 34% from prize money and 66% from endorsements, bonuses and appearance fees.
Illustration by Lorenzo Gordon
Novak Djokovic has built a resume in tennis that stands above all others in the modern era with a trio of on-court records: 24 Grand Slam titles, 428 weeks ranked No. 1 and $182.5 million in career prize money.
But one crown Djokovic has relinquished: The world’s highest-paid tennis player.
Carlos Alcaraz earned an estimated $45 million over the last 12 months, $6 million more than Djokovic ($38.7 million), flipping their ranks among 2023’s top-earning athletes. The two tennis aces are a step above other stars in the sport for income from prize money, endorsements and appearance fees. Rounding out the top five are Jannik Sinner ($25.7 million), Coco Gauff ($25.6 million) and Iga Świątek ($25.2 million).
In June, Alcaraz won his third Grand Slam at the French Open, just one month after his 21st birthday, and became the youngest man to collect major championships on three surfaces, including his 2022 U.S. Open and 2023 Wimbledon titles. The $2.6 million payday pushed him to ninth on the all-time career prize money list at $31.5 million—he earned $15 million during the last year, including $4.4 million from the ATP bonus pool
Alcaraz’s off-the-court game has been even stronger, as he’s been tabbed as tennis’ next-generation star to fill the eventual void of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic. Alcaraz signed deals with LVMH, Rolex, BMW, Babolat, Calvin Klein and ISDIN sunscreen. The groundswell of interest in Alcaraz has carried over into his appearance fees where he can command seven figures for a tournament or exhibition, including his Netflix faceoff in March against Nadal.
His most lucrative sponsor is Nike, which redid its deal with Alcaraz in 2023 at a huge increase. Tennis apparel sponsorships are layered with bonuses for tournament performances and year-end rankings, and Alcaraz will earn more than $10 million annually from Nike, based on his current results.
1 Comment
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