Tennis is among the classiest sports in the world, and winning a Grand Slam is rightfully compensated with a handsome figure on the prize money paycheck. Here, we look at the top ten earners via prize money in the history of the sport.
As a reference, the US Open pays $2.96 million, Wimbledon pays out $3.11 million, the Australian Open pays $2.13 million while Rolland Garros pays the winner $1.89 million.
10. Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark)
Profit: $35,233,415
Wozniacki has won 30 singles titles including a Grand Slam title, a WTA Finals title, three WTA Premier Mandatory titles and three WTA Premier 5 titles.
9. Simona Halep (Romania)
Profit: $37,426,198
She has won 22 WTA singles titles and has finished runner-up 17 times. Halep has won two Grand Slam singles titles: the 2018 French Open and the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.
8. María Sharápova (Russia)
Earnings: $38,777,962
Sharapova has won thirty six WTA singles titles including five Grand Slams, one year-ending championship, six WTA Tier I singles titles, three WTA Premier Mandatory singles titles and five WTA Premier 5 singles titles. She was also the silver medallist in singles at the 2012 London Olympics.
7. Venus Williams (USA)
Earnings: $42,065,362
Williams has won 49 WTA singles titles, and trails behind her sister only, additionally, she has won four Olympic gold medals, one in singles and three in women’s doubles with her sister, along with a silver medal in mixed doubles.
6. Pete Sampras (USA)
Earnings: $43,280,489
Sampras won 64 top-level singles titles (including 14 Grand Slam titles, 11 Super 9/ATP Masters Series/ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles and five Tennis Masters Cup titles) and two doubles titles.
5. Andy Murray (United Kingdom)
Earnings: $61,832,826
Murray has won 46 ATP singles titles, including 14 ATP Masters 1000 events. He was ranked no. 1 for 41 weeks by ATP and finished as the best in the world at the end of 2016. He has won three Grand Slam singles titles, including two at Wimbledon, and has reached eleven major finals in total.
4. Serena Williams (USA)
Earnings: $94,236,271
The most successful women’s tennis player, Williams holds the most Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles combined among active players. Her 39 Grand Slam titles put her joint-third on the all-time list and second in the Open Era.
3. Rafael Nadal (Spain)
Earnings: $123,843,596
Nadal has won 20 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, an all-time record shared with Roger Federer. His 13 French Open titles in particular are a record at any tournament. Nadal’s dominance on clay is also highlighted by 60 of his 86 ATP singles titles coming on this surface.
2. Roger Federer (Switzerland)
Earnings: $129,981,743
With 20 Grand Slam titles and 8 Wimbledon titles, Federer is arguably one of, if not the single greatest player to ever step onto the court.
He is one of eight men to have won a career Grand Slam (winning all four Grand Slams at least once) and one of four players to have won a career Grand Slam on three different surfaces, hard, grass and clay courts.
1. Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Earnings: $147,744,252
Djokovic has won 18 Grand Slam men’s singles titles and 82 ATP singles titles overall, including a record nine Australian Open titles and a record 36 Masters 1000 events. He is the only player to win all of the “Big Titles” on the modern ATP Tour – that is, all four Grand Slam tournaments, all nine ATP Masters events, and the ATP Finals. In particular, he is also the only player to complete the career Golden Masters, which he has done twice.
