With Roger Federer after all exiting the degree, a brand new No. 1 leads a peak ten that made a blended $196 million over the last one year.
By way of Brett Knight, Forbes Team of workers
Since 2007, Roger Federer has reigned as the sector’s highest-paid tennis participant. However whilst the 42-year-old Swiss ace remains to be amassing an estimated $95 million a yr, his retirement final September implies that certainly one of his previous competitors now wears the crown as the game’s peak earner—with an inheritor obvious having a look more and more in a position to clutch the throne.
Novak Djokovic is the brand new champion of Forbes’ annual tennis income listing, hauling in an estimated $38.4 million (earlier than taxes and brokers’ charges) over the last one year. No different lively participant can fit his general at the courtroom ($13.4 million from prize cash) or off the courtroom (an estimated $25 million from endorsement offers, look charges, and licensing and memorabilia source of revenue). However Carlos Alcaraz, who outlasted Djokovic in an epic Wimbledon ultimate in July to assert his 2nd Grand Slam name, isn’t some distance in the back of by means of both measure. The 20-year-old Spanish phenom raked in $31.4 million over the last one year, together with $11.4 million at the courtroom and an estimated $20 million off it, to land at No. 2.
That could be a large carry from final yr, when Alcaraz made his debut at the listing at No. 10 with an estimated general of $10.9 million—after which gained the U.S. Open the next month. Within the girls’s sport, Iga Swiatek, who has additionally gained two Grand Slams prior to now yr, made a an identical leap, from out of doors the highest ten all of the option to No. 3 this yr, with an estimated $22.4 million in income. She is joined by means of 3 different first-timers: Coco Gauff (No. 7, $15.2 million), Casper Ruud (No. 8, $14.4 million) and Jessica Pegula (No. 10, $10.9 million).
Like Federer, 41-year-old Serena Williams was once deemed ineligible for this yr’s score after her obvious retirement final yr, and her 43-year-old sister, Venus Williams, falls out of the highest ten, in conjunction with 33-year-old Kei Nishikori. The reshuffling drops the common age of the highest ten beneath 26, from over 31 in 2022.
The brand new faces additionally push the choice of girls within the peak ten as much as 5, from 4 final yr, matching the perfect general within the 16-year historical past of the score. This is no small feat. Feminine avid gamers usually have fewer and not more profitable advertising and marketing alternatives to be had to them, and whilst women and men obtain equivalent prize cash on the recreation’s 4 Grand Slam occasions, there are nonetheless some pay disparities at smaller tournaments. For example, this month’s Western & Southern Open out of doors Cincinnati featured a prize pool of $6.6 million for the boys, with Djokovic taking house $1,019,335 because the singles champion; the ladies, in the meantime, performed for $2.8 million, with Gauff receiving $454,500 for her singles name.
In general, the 10 highest-paid avid gamers accrued $196 million over the last one year. That determine represents a 38% drop from final yr’s $316 million general—and a 43% decline from 2020’s report $343 million—however the lack of Federer and Williams, with a blended $125 million in income at the 2022 listing, accounts for lots of the distinction. And with 8 of this yr’s peak ten nonetheless below 30, this crew of emerging tennis stars is simply getting began.
THE WORLD’S HIGHEST-PAID TENNIS PLAYERS 2023
#1. $38.4 million
AGE: 36 | NATIONALITY: Serbia | ON-COURT: $13.4 mil • OFF-COURT: $25 mil
When the U.S. Open starts on August 28, Djokovic can be again at Flushing Meadows for the primary time in two years, after lacking the 2022 event (in addition to that yr’s Australian Open) as a result of his choice to forgo the Covid-19 vaccine. Whilst the 36-year-old Serb fell to Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set mystery at Wimbledon in July and has surrendered the ATP Excursion’s No. 1 score, he held off Alcaraz on this month’s Western & Southern Open ultimate, and his triumphs within the yr’s first two majors gave him 23 Grand Slam singles titles for his profession, a males’s report. Djokovic, who strengthened his endorsement portfolio with the addition of Waterdrop drinks in January, has profession pre-tax income of greater than $510 million, in line with Forbes estimates, together with an ATP-best $172 million in prize cash.
#2. $31.4 million
AGE: 20 | NATIONALITY: Spain | ON-COURT: $11.4 mil • OFF-COURT: $20 mil
Alcaraz enters the U.S. Open because the event’s reigning champion, the latest main winner after his Wimbledon victory and the game’s top-ranked participant—all at age 20. Together with his nationality and his recognition on clay courts naturally producing comparisons to Rafael Nadal, sponsors (together with Louis Vuitton and Calvin Klein) are dashing to signal a participant they imagine may just in a similar way dominate the game within the years yet to come. Alcaraz has additionally been in a position to boost his look charges as he emerges as an attendance draw, and he was once scheduled to stand Nadal in a profitable exhibition fit in Las Vegas in March that was once canceled as a result of accidents to each avid gamers. However Alcaraz published final month that he has every other doable pairing in thoughts for the 2 avid gamers: becoming a member of forces on a doubles staff on the 2024 Paris Olympics.
#3. $22.4 million
AGE: 22 | NATIONALITY: Poland | ON-COURT: $8.4 mil • OFF-COURT: $14 mil
Swiatek’s French Open victory in June gave her 4 profession Grand Slam singles titles, tying her with Naomi Osaka for 2nd amongst lively girls’s avid gamers, in the back of Venus Williams (who has seven). The 22-year-old Polish famous person has additionally been the WTA Excursion’s top-ranked participant for greater than 70 instantly weeks. (Simplest 9 girls’s avid gamers have spent extra time at No. 1 throughout their whole careers.) Clear of the courtroom, Swiatek has been construction out her endorsements after signing final September with robust company IMG, including offers this yr with Oshee sports activities beverages, On sneakers and attire and Visa.
#4. $20.1 million
AGE: 27 | NATIONALITY: Russia | ON-COURT: $7.1 mil • OFF-COURT: $13 mil
Medvedev, who is living in Monaco, has been in a position to effectively stroll the promoting tightrope that Russian-born avid gamers have confronted since their nation’s invasion of Ukraine final yr. The 2021 U.S. Open champion and previous international No. 1 unveiled a signature emblem in January that looks on a line of attire and sneakers from Lacoste, certainly one of his 9 long-term sponsors. Medvedev has additionally set to work with RawQ, a logo of power bars cofounded by means of his spouse, Daria.
#5. $15.5 million
AGE: 37 | NATIONALITY: Spain | ON-COURT: $1.5 mil • OFF-COURT: $14 mil
After a 2022 season that featured two Grand Slam titles, Nadal has been sidelined since this yr’s Australian Open with a hip harm that required surgical operation in June. The 37-year-old Spaniard has mentioned 2024 can be his ultimate yr of tennis, which might bring to a close an unbelievable profession that has incorporated 22 main titles and, as with Djokovic, greater than $510 million in pre-tax income. (Simplest Djokovic has earned greater than Nadal’s $135 million in prize cash.) Tennis’ sponsorship machine—during which attire sponsors like Nike and racket sponsors like Babolat in most cases scale back their charges for avid gamers who fall within the scores or pass over large tournaments with accidents—approach Nadal is most likely incomes significantly much less this yr than in 2022. Nonetheless, he just lately started a partnership with Subway, showing in advertisements along NBA famous person Stephen Curry, and in January, he invested within the E1 Collection, a brand new electrical raceboat league.
#6. $15.3 million
AGE: 20 | NATIONALITY: Britain | ON-COURT: $0.3 mil • OFF-COURT: $15 mil
Raducanu is simply returning to the observe courtroom after having surgical operation on each fingers in addition to her ankle this yr. She is going to actually have a new trainer after parting techniques along with her 5th in two years in June as she tries to get again to the shape that noticed her win an sudden name on the 2021 U.S. Open. That championship run at age 18 got here with a flood of endorsements—together with Dior, HSBC and Porsche—and even if she’s no longer taking part in, she will be offering sponsors greater than 3 million fans throughout Instagram, Fb and X. A 2022 record by means of information company SponsorUnited discovered she had the perfect moderate engagement on her branded posts of any feminine tennis participant.
#7. $15.2 million
AGE: 19 | NATIONALITY: United States | ON-COURT: $3.2 mil • OFF-COURT: $12 mil
Gauff gained the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., this month—her first profession singles name on U.S. soil and the most important of her younger profession—and he or she adopted it up with a fair larger victory on the Western & Southern Open out of doors Cincinnati. Most likely a paranormal run on the U.S. Open is subsequent for the 19-year-old American, who’s ranked 6th on this planet in each singles and doubles and has already gave the impression in a Grand Slam ultimate, ultimately yr’s French Open. Gauff has taken a slow-and-steady strategy to construction her industry along her brokers at Team8 and her oldsters—father Corey, who coaches her, and mom Candi, who homeschooled her—however she has added 3 partnerships this yr, with accounting company Baker Tilly, Bose and UPS.
#8. $14.4 million
Casper Ruud
AGE: 24 | NATIONALITY: Norway | ON-COURT: $6.4 mil • OFF-COURT: $8 mil
Ruud’s 2022 was once so excellent—with 3 event titles plus runner-up finishes on the French Open, the U.S. Open and the ATP Finals—that his nonetheless slightly robust 2023 has felt like slightly of a letdown. Don’t rely out the 24-year-old in Flushing Meadows, regardless that, specifically after he made a 2nd instantly look within the ultimate at Roland-Garros in June. This yr, Ruud was a world ambassador for Samsonite and tacked on sponsor offers with two Scandinavian manufacturers: Nutrition Neatly drinks and SalMar farmed salmon.
#9. $12.1 million
AGE: 25 | NATIONALITY: Japan | ON-COURT: $0.1 mil • OFF-COURT: $12 mil
Osaka hasn’t performed a aggressive fit since September 2022, first as a result of accidents after which as a result of being pregnant, however after giving start in July, the 25-year-old is aiming to go back to the courtroom on the Australian Open in January. She wasted no time getting again to coaching: She was once noticed doing drills in Los Angeles simply 15 days after her daughter was once born. Osaka, who was once raised within the U.S. however was once born in Japan and represents that nation the world over, earned greater than $50 million in each and every of the final two years, and whilst her prolonged hiatus has knocked that quantity down, she nonetheless has a protracted listing of company companions. That comes with Victoria’s Secret, which introduced a design collaboration along with her in February, and new addition Bobbie child formulation. And in April, her media corporate, Hana Kuma, raised $5 million.
#10. $10.9 million
AGE: 29 | NATIONALITY: United States | ON-COURT: $4.9 mil • OFF-COURT: $6 mil
Pegula is the epitome of a overdue bloomer, capturing from No. 83 within the WTA Excursion’s singles scores 3 years in the past to No. 3—the highest American, 3 spots forward of doubles spouse Coco Gauff. Off the courtroom, the 29-year-old is the founding father of skin care line In a position 24 and signed with skill company GSE International in November to amplify a sponsor portfolio that incorporates Adidas, Yonex and In a position Diet. The daughter of billionaire Buffalo Expenses and Sabres house owners Terry and Kim Pegula, she additionally printed an essay within the Avid gamers’ Tribune in February about her mom’s lengthy restoration from a cardiac arrest final yr.
METHODOLOGY
On-court income figures mirror prize cash accumulated over the past one year, relationship to the 2022 U.S. Open. Off-court income estimates are decided thru conversations with business insiders and mirror source of revenue from endorsements, appearances, licensing and memorabilia, in addition to money returns from any companies during which the athlete has an important passion. Roger Federer and Serena Williams have been excluded from the score after their retirement bulletins final yr.
Forbes does no longer come with funding source of revenue equivalent to passion bills or dividends however does account for payouts from fairness stakes athletes have bought. Forbes does no longer deduct for taxes or brokers’ charges.
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