The U.S. Open will be missing some familiar faces, but young stars are taking their place among a top ten who collectively earned $316 million over the last year.
Novak Djokovic is barred from entering the U.S. because he has not received the Covid-19 vaccine. Roger Federer remains sidelined with a knee injury. Serena Williams will be playing what is expected to be her final Grand Slam, and Rafael Nadal, hampered by an abdominal injury, is openly acknowledging that his own retirement might be imminent.
The U.S. Open, which begins in New York on Monday with $2.6 million to be paid to the singles champions, can no longer count on those four stars to light up its field year after year. But plenty of up-and-comers are ready to replace them in tennis’ firmament—and they’re already making headway financially.
At age 41, Federer remains the world’s highest-paid tennis player for the 17th straight year, hauling in an estimated $90 million before taxes and agents’ fees over the last 12 months despite not playing a single match, but second place now firmly belongs to 24-year-old Naomi Osaka, who made an estimated $56.2 million this past year. She’s followed in the top five by Williams ($35.1 million), Nadal ($31.4 million) and Djokovic ($27.1 million), but coming up right behind them is 19-year-old Emma Raducanu, who makes her debut on Forbes’ tennis earnings leaderboard at No. 6 with $21.1 million. Daniil Medvedev, the 26-year-old Russian who is the world’s top-ranked men’s player, collected an estimated $19.3 million to land at No. 7, and Carlos Alcaraz, a 19-year-old from Spain, jumps onto the leaderboard at No. 10 with $10.9 million.
Combined, tennis’ ten top earners made an estimated $316 million, roughly flat from last year’s $320 million and down from 2020’s $343 million. But the group’s off-court total of $285 million from endorsements, appearances and other business endeavors represents an all-time high, topping last year’s $281 million.
The infusion of fresh blood is good news for a sport that has been ruled by the same handful of names for the last two decades. The 40-year-old Williams, who announced in an August 9 essay for Vogue that she was preparing to retire, has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles—a record for tennis’ open era—and has earned more than $440 million across her career, easily the all-time high for a female athlete. Her estimated net worth of $260 million ranks her 90th among America’s richest self-made women.
On the men’s side, the 36-year-old Nadal, winner of this year’s Australian Open and French Open, has claimed a record 22 Grand Slam singles titles; the 35-year-old Djokovic has 21 after his triumph at Wimbledon last month, and Federer has 20. Across the last 76 Slams, dating to 2003, just 13 men’s singles titles have been won by someone else. And the three superstars have been just as daunting off the court: Federer is one of just seven athletes who have earned at least $1 billion before taxes while Nadal has made an estimated $500 million and Djokovic more than $470 million.
Their domination has been so complete that tennis pundits speak of a “lost generation”—players in their late 20s and early 30s who never ascended to the top of the sport because the Big Three lingered so long. But whether it’s because this new crop of players is more talented or just that Federer and Nadal are finally starting to cede the stage, men’s tennis looks poised to enter its next era soon, with Medvedev and Alcaraz being chased in the earnings race by 23-year-old Casper Ruud (an estimated $10.4 million this past year), 24-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas ($8.9 million) and 25-year-old Alexander Zverev ($8.3 million).
THE WORLD’S HIGHEST-PAID TENNIS PLAYERS 2022
#1. $90 mil
Roger Federer
AGE: 41 | NATIONALITY: Switzerland | ON-COURT: $0 • OFF-COURT: $90 mil
Roger Federer remains sports’ top pitchman, with an unparalleled $90 million in annual off-court earnings.
Julian Finney/Getty Images
Federer, who hasn’t played a competitive match in nearly 14 months, has said he hopes to return to the court this fall with an eye on making one more run next year at Wimbledon, where he’s won eight of his 20 Grand Slam titles. (A training video posted to Instagram on Sunday got the tennis world talking.) But even when he’s limited by injuries, Federer remains sports’ top pitchman, with an unparalleled $90 million in annual off-court earnings from sponsors including Uniqlo, Credit Suisse and Rolex. He also owns significant equity in On, the Swiss running shoe brand that went public last September.
#2. $56.2 mil
Naomi Osaka
AGE: 24 | NATIONALITY: Japan | ON-COURT: $1.2 mil • OFF-COURT: $55 mil
Naomi Osaka is a marketing powerhouse, endorsing nearly 20 brands.
Hamish Blair/Associated Press
Osaka has been bothered by back, abdominal and Achilles injuries and has seen her world ranking slip to 44th. But she’s a marketing powerhouse, endorsing nearly 20 brands, including recent additions FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, and Modern Health, a mental health platform. In May, Osaka and her longtime agent Stuart Duguid founded a sports agency, Evolve, soon signing Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios as a client. In June, she started a media company called Hana Kuma in partnership with LeBron James’ SpringHill Company, and her skincare line Kinlò, launched last September, recently started appearing on Walmart shelves and announced endorsement deals with five college athletes.
#3. $35.1 mil
Serena Williams
AGE: 40 | NATIONALITY: U.S. | ON-COURT: $0.1 mil • OFF-COURT: $35 mil
After she retires from tennis, Serena Williams will stay plenty busy with her VC firm, which has investments in more than 60 startups.
Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
Williams’ poignant essay announcing her impending retirement acknowledged that this is not exactly how she’d like to go out—one major title behind Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24. But she will stay plenty busy with her firm Serena Ventures, which has investments in more than 60 startups and announced an inaugural fund of $111 million in March. Williams, who turns 41 next month, also still has endorsement deals with nearly a dozen brands, including Nike, Gucci and Michelob Ultra, and can expect at least some of them to continue well into her retirement from tennis. For instance, Maria Sharapova—perhaps her closest analogue, with $325 million in earnings across a tennis career that ended in February 2020—continues to promote Nike, Evian and Porsche.
#4. $31.4 mil
Rafael Nadal
AGE: 36 | NATIONALITY: Spain | ON-COURT: $6.4 mil • OFF-COURT: $25 mil
Rafael Nadal has a steady stable of corporate partners that include Nike, Kia and Richard Mille watches.
Julian Finney/Getty Images
Nadal, back on the court after taking a break from tennis in 2021 to manage a rare foot condition known as Müller-Weiss syndrome, will be playing his first U.S. Open since 2019 and has a steady stable of corporate partners that include Nike, Kia and Richard Mille watches. His hunt for a calendar-year Grand Slam ended in July when an abdominal tear forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon ahead of his semifinal match, but he got a financial lift from his Australian Open and French Open victories—a combined $4.4 million in prize money plus bonuses from sponsors. He is also an investor in the restaurant Tatel, which opened a Beverly Hills outpost last September.
#5. $27.1 mil
Novak Djokovic
AGE: 35 | NATIONALITY: Serbia | ON-COURT: $7.1 mil • OFF-COURT: $20 mil
Novak Djokovic counts Asics, Head, Hublot, Lacoste, NetJets and Raiffeisen Bank as sponsors.
Simon Bruty Anychance/Getty Images
Djokovic had a magical 2021, winning the year’s first three majors and falling just shy of the calendar-year Slam with a loss in the U.S. Open final. His 2022 has been a bit bumpier, however. His decision to forgo the Covid-19 vaccine forced him to miss the Australian Open, and he has been playing without patches on his sleeves—lucrative real estate for sponsorships—after parting ways with Peugeot and UKG. His vaccination status also required him to withdraw from the U.S. Open warm-up tournament outside Cincinnati this month and appears likely to hold him out of the main event next week. But Djokovic still counts Asics, Head, Hublot, Lacoste, NetJets and Raiffeisen Bank as sponsors.
#6. $21.1 mil
Emma Raducanu
AGE: 19 | NATIONALITY: Britain | ON-COURT: $3.1 mil • OFF-COURT: $18 mil
Emma Raducanu has signed a slew of endorsement deals since winning the 2021 U.S. Open.
Aaron Doster/Associated Press
Raducanu was a virtual unknown this time last year, ranked 150th in the world. Then came her U.S. Open victory at age 18 and a flood of endorsements, with British Airways, Dior, Evian, HSBC, Porsche, Tiffany and Vodafone joining Nike in her stable. She has struggled to live up to that high standard, falling in the second round this year at the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon, but brands are eager to get in on the ground floor with a player they think could be a star for years.
#7. $19.3 mil
Daniil Medvedev
AGE: 26 | NATIONALITY: Russia | ON-COURT: $7.3 mil • OFF-COURT: $12 mil
Daniil Medvedev is the world’s top-ranked men’s singles player.
Thomas F Starke/Getty Images
Medvedev, who beat Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open final last year to win his first major, has spent much of the year dueling with the Serbian star for the No. 1 ranking. Wimbledon barred Medvedev and other Russian players from competing amid the war in Ukraine, but a subsequent decision by the ATP and WTA Tours to strip the tournament of ranking points helped him hold on to the top spot, with Djokovic now down to No. 6. All Russian players are having to walk a marketing tightrope as their country’s invasion presses on, but Medvedev has held on to all of his partners, including Lacoste and two additions from last fall, gaming gear brand HyperX and Chinese distillery Guojiao 1573. In Medvedev’s favor: He resides in Monaco, and his only sponsor based in Russia, Tinkoff Bank, has avoided Western sanctions.
#8. $13.2 mil
Kei Nishikori
AGE: 32 | NATIONALITY: Japan | ON-COURT: $0.2 mil • OFF-COURT: $13 mil
Kei Nishikori has been a marketing juggernaut in Japan for years.
Frank Franklin II/Associated Press
Nishikori, a 2014 U.S. Open finalist, has been a marketing juggernaut in Japan over the last several years, making $30 million or more off the court each year from 2016 to 2020, according to Forbes estimates. Cracks began to appear last year, when Forbes listed him at $25 million from endorsements, and injuries have sidelined him since October, with his world ranking down to 365th. But his endorsement deals with a half-dozen brands, including Uniqlo, Japan Airlines and Airweave mattresses, still keep him ahead of every men’s tennis player not named Federer, Nadal or Djokovic on the off-court leaderboard.
#9. $12 mil
Venus Williams
AGE: 42 | NATIONALITY: U.S. | ON-COURT: $0.03 mil • OFF-COURT: $12 mil
Venus Williams has pivoted away from traditional tennis sponsorships in favor of deals that capitalize on her celebrity.
Robert Prange/Getty Images
Williams, who was given a wild-card spot to compete at the U.S. Open, joins her sister Serena among tennis’ top earners even though she has played just three tournaments in singles this year and sits at No. 1,445 in the world rankings. That’s the result of a pivot away from traditional tennis sponsorships—which punish players who miss tournaments or drop in the rankings—in favor of deals that capitalize on her celebrity. Her partners now include Blue Cross Blue Shield, medical aesthetic device manufacturer Venus Concept and self-care brand Asutra (where she serves as chief creative brand officer), plus recent addition Lacoste. Williams also has a lucrative side hustle as a speaker, with 30 dates planned for this year, and cofounded Happy Viking, which makes a meal-replacement shake and announced a $2 million funding round last week.
#10. $10.9 mil
Carlos Alcaraz
AGE: 19 | NATIONALITY: Spain | ON-COURT: $5.9 mil • OFF-COURT: $5 mil
Carlos Alcaraz has shot up the world rankings at age 19.
Adam Pretty/Getty Images
Alcaraz has rocketed up the world singles rankings this year to No. 4, from No. 33 in January, becoming the youngest player in the ATP Tour’s top five since Rafael Nadal in 2005. His nationality and his reputation on clay courts have prompted further comparisons to Nadal, who with $6.4 million is also the only men’s player to have outearned Alcaraz’s $4.8 million on the court in 2022. Sponsors, seeing a player who could dominate for years, have begun to flock to the young Spaniard, with Rolex, skincare brand ISDIN, meat producer ElPozo Alimentación and BMW signing on in the last eight months.
METHODOLOGY
On-court earnings figures reflect prize money collected over the last 12 months, dating to the 2021 U.S. Open. Off-court earnings estimates are determined through conversations with industry insiders and reflect income from endorsements, appearances, licensing and memorabilia, as well as cash returns from any businesses operated by the player. Investment income such as interest payments or dividends is not included, but Forbes does account for payouts from equity stakes athletes have sold. Forbes does not deduct for taxes or agents’ fees.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettknight/2022/08/25/highest-paid-tennis-players-2022-new-generation-taking-over-from-federer-and-serena/