With a win at Roland Garros and a deep run at the All England Club, Rafael Nadal is now No. 2 in all-time career prize money in men’s singles.
For the first time in a long time, there has been a change near the very top of the all-time ATP Tour list of career prize money leaders — Rafael Nadal has risen in the rankings.
Thanks to his 22nd Grand Slam title at the 2022 French Open and the $2.5 million payday that came with it, Rafa leapfrogged Roger Federer on the all-time career prize money list for men’s tennis.
Despite an early exit from Wimbledon earlier this month due to injury, Nadal still walked away with a big enough payday — around $565,000 — to pad his lead over a still-idle Federer. With his latest success, Rafa’s total career earnings now sit at $131,338,131 — a comfortable $743,792 lead over King Roger’s career tally of $130,594,339.
While Federer’s career trajectory is uncertain at the moment — word has it that he is returning to action this fall after the US Open— Rafa still appears to have plenty of fight left.
So far this year, the Spaniard has earned roughly $6.4 million — $6,375,266 from singles and $1,270 from doubles. That’s the highest tally in men’s tennis in 2022 thus far. But, while he’s the current GOAT of Grand Slams, Rafa still plays second fiddle to Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic when it comes to the bag.
Djokovic, whose vaccination status has made for a complicated season of tennis, currently stands tall on the list of top earners: $158,996,253, to be exact. That’s roughly $27.6 million more than Rafa.
This year, the Joker has raked in $4.2 million — the second most on the men’s tour. This is largely due to winning Wimbledon for the fourth-straight time— and comes even despite not playing in the Australian Open.
Currently, Djokovic is not allowed to compete in New York’s US Open due to his vaccination status, so his earnings for the year are largely set, aside from any other tournaments he enters outside of the final Grand Slam.
Rafa appears primed to compete in next month’s Open, giving him the perfect opportunity to chip away at Djokovic’s large lead in prize money and add to his Grand Slam glory.
Highest-paid Men’s Tennis Players of All Time
Reflects career ATP earnings as of July 24, 2022.
1. Novak Djokovic: $158,996,253
2. Rafael Nadal: $131,338,131
3. Roger Federer: $130,594,339
4. Andy Murray: $62,895,316
5. Pete Sampras: $43,280,489
6. Stan Wawrinka: $35,052,919
7. Alexander Zverev: $32,407,055
8. David Ferrer: $31,483,911
9. Andre Agassi: $31,152,975
10. Marin Cilic: $30,588,972