The earnings of a professional tennis player and the ranking of the highest paid in the world: here are all the earnings of the champions of the racket which however can vary greatly based on the level.
How much does a tennis player earn? As in all sports, there are marked differences in earnings between the most highly rated athletes who are protagonists of the Slams and those who, instead, tread the courts of minor tournaments.
Let’s see the ranking of the highest paid tennis players in the world, then also taking a look at the differences in earnings based on the different position in the ranking.
How much does a tennis player earn
As mentioned, the earnings of a tennis player vary greatly based on the tournaments in which he takes part - a Slam or an ATP have a much higher prize pool than a Challenger - and the commercial agreements signed with the various sponsors.
Then there are the expenses that a professional tennis player must sustain: from coaches to physiotherapists to travel and the cost of equipment.
The result is that a medium-low level player often puts together earnings during the year that are unable to cover expenses, while those at the top of the ranking put millions of dollars in the bank.
Leaving aside the issue of sponsors that varies from athlete to athlete, let’s see what the average earnings in tennis are in general.
- Slam: winners can earn millions of euros, but even getting through a couple of rounds can guarantee from 50,000 to 100,000 dollars.
- ATP 1000 tournaments: prizes for winners can reach around 1 million euros.
- Minor tournaments (ATP 250/500): prizes go down, with earnings between 50,000 and 500,000 euros for winners.
- Challengers and Futures: earnings here are much lower, from a few thousand euros to less than 10,000 per tournament.
In general, it can be said that a tennis player who is in the top 10 of the ranking earns between 10 and 30 million euros per year, including prizes and sponsors.
Those who are in the top 100 generally earn between 500,000 and 5 million euros every year, while a medium-low level tennis player fluctuates between 50,000 and 200,000 euros, struggling as mentioned to cover the expenses incurred.
The ranking of the highest paid tennis players
According to an estimate made by Forbes, in total the 10 highest paid tennis players in the world have earned around 246 million dollars in the last 12 months, considering both the various prize money and the extra-sports earnings.
If that seems high, then you should know that in 2020 the total was $343 million, but the two Scrooges of the time - Roger Federer and Serena Williams - are now retired.
These are the 10 highest paid tennis players in 2024.
|Tennis Player|On-court earnings|Off-court earnings|Total|
|Carlos Alcaraz|10.3 million|32 million|42.3 million|
|Novak Djokovic|12.2 million|25 million|37.2 million|
|Jannik Sinner|16.9 million|15 million|31.9 million|
|Cocco Gauff|7.1 million|20 million|27.1 million|
|Iga Swiatek|11.7 million|15 million|26.7 million|
|Rafa Nadal|0.3 million|23 million|23.2 million|
|Daniel Medvedev|7.3 million|13 million|20.3 million|
|Naomi Osaka|0.6 million|14 million|14.6 million|
|Casper Ruud|3.9 million|10 million|13.9 million|
|Aryna Sabalenka|6.7 million|7 million|13.7 million|
*Figures in dollars
The tennis player who earned the most in 2024 would be Carlos Alcaraz, thanks above all to rich sponsorship contracts that have also made the fortune of Novak Djokovic.
Jannik Sinner was instead the tennis player who earned the most from tournaments, but he had to settle for third place due to lower extra income than his two colleagues.
Cocco Gauff was instead the richest tennis player in 2024, with sponsors who pushed the Japanese Naomi Osaka into this special ranking, who last year barely played on the courts.
Original article published on Money.it Italy. Original title: Quanto guadagna un tennista? La classifica dei più pagati
