The top 9 all-time ATP career prize money earners: Novak Djokovic No 1, Carlos Alcaraz already up to No 9
Novak Djokovic has dominated the career prize money list for the best part of a decade as he was the first player to earn $100m and also the first to earn $150m and now the $200m milestone is also waving at him.
Besides Djokovic, only two other players have earned $100m in prize money and there are no prizes for guessing their names.
But the big question is whether some of the rising stars like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will usurp Djokovic in future given that they have already made big strides in recent years on the ATP Tour.
The two youngsters have time on their side given the former is only 21 years old while Sinner is turning 23 in August.
Alcaraz cracked the top nine after his Roland Garros title while Sinner sits in 22nd place with $23,141,224 in earnings.
Top 9 all-time ATP career prize money earners:
9. Carlos Alcaraz – $35,181,805
Carlos Alcaraz surged into the top 9 on the back of collecting $2.5m with his title run at the 2024 French Open as he bumped fellow Spaniard David Ferrer off the list. He then won Wimbledon to edge closer to Stan Wawrinka.
The Spaniard is already a four-time Grand Slam winner having won the US Open in 2022, Wimbledon last year and the French Open and Wimbledon this year.
He won $15,196,504 last year to go with the $10m he collected in 2022. He sits on $8,155,657 for the 2024 season so far.
Prize Money Lists
8. Stan Wawrinka – $37,089,980
Three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka will also most likely drop out of the top 10 given the increase in prize money in recent years.
The Swiss, who has won 16 career titles, earned $3,5m for his 2016 US Open win and roughly $1.8m and $1.7m for his 2015 French Open trophy and 2014 Australian Open title respectively.
7. Daniil Medvedev – $42,605,819
Daniil Medvedev is the latest player to break the $40m mark as he earned that milestone at the 2024 Indian Wells Open.
The Russian won the 2021 US Open and has five Grand Slam runners-up trophies to his name and his best season for earnings came in 2023 when he collected $11,548,023. His other best seasons were in 2021 ($7,481,274) and 2019 ($7,902,912).
6. Pete Sampras – $43,280,489
There is no doubt Pete Sampras would have had more money in his bank account had he competed in recent years, especially when you consider his best year was in 1997 when he earned $6,498,311 as he won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and Tennis Masters Cup (ATP Finals).
The 14-time Grand Slam winner also earned $3,931,497 in 1998 on the back of successfully defending his Wimbledon title.
5. Alexander Zverev – $44,836,889
Alexander Zverev is the second player on the list without a major with his best showing coming at the 2020 US Open when he finished runner-up to Dominic Thiem, although he still has time on his side.
His best earnings year came before Covid-19 as he finished second on the money list in 2018 with a tally of $8,706,298. That year he won the ATP Finals and the Madrid Open.
He also earned $6,420,344 in 2021 and $5,108,998 in 2017.
The German moved ahead of Pete Sampras with his run to the quarter-final of the 2024 US Open.
4. Andy Murray – $64,687,542
Newly retired Andy Murray’s best earnings season remains second in the all-time list as he collected a cool $16,349,701 during the 2016 season as he won Wimbledon and the ATP Finals, and also finished runner-up at the Australian Open and French Open.
Since then he has passed the $1m only once as he won $2,092,625 in 2017, but in his heyday Murray averaged above $4m per year.
3. Roger Federer – $130,594,339
Roger Federer often tops the best-earning sports stars lists despite being retired as a lot of his earnings come from sponsorship deals.
But for a few years, it looked like Federer would run with things in the career-earnings stakes was initially way ahead of his rivals, but Messrs Nadal and Djokovic pulled him back and eventually surpassed him.
Federer no longer features in the top 10 for best single-season earnings with his best season coming in 2017 when he collected $$13,054,856 after winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
2. Rafael Nadal – $134,946,100
22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal is in the final few years of his career so he has no chance of catching the man at No 1.
The Spaniard’s name appears three times on the list for best single season on the ATP Tour as in 2019 he earned $16,349,586 after winning the French Open and US Open. In 2017 he earned $15,864,000 and in 2013 he made $14,570,935.
1. Novak Djokovic – $184,480,269
Novak Djokovic’s name appears five times on the list for best single-season earnings and he is the only player to break the $20m mark for the 2015 season.
Unsurprisingly, he dominated that year as he won the Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open and ATP Finals, and also finished runner-up at Roland Garros. He was $21,146,145 richer by the end of that year.
His other best seasons came in 2018 ($15,967,184), 2023 ($15,952,044), 2014 ($14,250,527) and 2016 ($14,138,824).
