Who earned the most prize money on the ATP tour? Sure: Novak Djokovic. Crazy but: Alexander Zverev is also in the top 5!
by Florian Goosmann
last edited: October 2, 2024, 5:46 p.m
© Getty Images
The top 4 in the world prize money rankings sound logical: Novak Djokovic (184.480.269 US-Dollar), Rafael Nadal (134.946.100 US-Dollar), Roger Federer (130,594,339 US dollars) and – with some distance – Andy Murray ($64,687,542) are listed at the top. And with it the “Big 4” of the tennis scene, who have dominated the tour over the past 20 years.
But what about the rest? Where do the current top players stand in comparison to the all-time greats of previous years, such as Rod Laver, Björn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and Co.? Disproportionately far ahead, one would argue.
The reason for this is the development of prize money in recent years. Which is of course a blessing for the current professionals. But it seems unfair for the “oldies”.
Let’s take a look at the rest of the top 10: Here it is Alexander Zverev already listed at number 5, with $44,836,889. Crazy: Zverev hasn’t won a Grand Slam title yet, but he will this year Pete Sampras pushed. He won 14 major titles but “only” earned $43,280,489.
The following are the highest earners in the top 10: Daniil Medvevev (42.605.819 US-Dollar), Stan Wawrinka (37.089.980 US-Dollar), Carlos Alcaraz ($35,181,805) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (31.483.911 US-Dollar).
How much did Thiem and Co. earn?
Other interesting names from the current scene: Dominic Thiem is ranked #14 ($30,312,316), Jannik Sinner at No. 17 ($27,634,144), Oldie Richard Gasquet at No. 27 ($21,155,054), Jan-Lennard Struff at No. 86 ($10,775,927).
© ATP
Prize Money
That’s how much the oldies around Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Rod Laver earned
The differences in prize money over time become clearer the further back you look.
The six-time major winner Boris Becker is still doing well here at number 20 (25,080,956 US dollars), as is the nine-time Grand Slam champ Ivan Lendl in 26th place (21,262,417 US dollars) or the six-time major champion Stefan Edberg with 31st place ($20,613,441).
If you look at the generation before, the gap is larger. John McEnroe is only ranked 69th ($12,552,132), Jimmy Connors – still the man with the most Tour titles (109) – is only ranked 116th ($8,616,040). And pop legend Björn Borg is only ranked #310 ($3,655,751).
And Rod Laverwho won the Grand Slam twice in the 1960s (but once as an amateur and therefore without any prize money) is only ranked 592nd (1,565,413 US dollars). For comparison: Dominic Stricker, Swiss young hope, is still ahead of him in 589th place…
Who will lead in terms of prize money in 2024?
By the way, the prize money list this year is leading Jannik Sinner an (10.590.709 US-Dollar), vor Carlos Alcaraz ($8,155,657) and Alexander Zverev (6.288.069 US-Dollar).
Federer, Nadal, Djokovic earn most of their money from advertising
Also crazy: for the stars of the scene, the prize money is just peanuts.
Roger Federer has earned $130 million on the tennis court – and many times that amount off it.
Between June 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020 alone, the maestro collected around $100 million in advertising revenue and entry fees! The $6.3 million in prize money during this period seems almost ridiculous.
Click here for the entire prize money rankings
Click here for the 2024 prize money rankings
