Comparing Rafael Nadal's career earnings with Tiger Woods, LeBron James, Lionel Messi & other top-earning athletes of all time

Rafael Nadal is second in line to Novak Djokovic in terms of the highest number of Grand Slam victories (22) in the Open Era, a number that further includes the record of the highest number of French Open titles (14) and accompanies a range of several other Masters titles.

The Spaniard is ahead of other tennis players in terms of prize money earned, besides the Serb who tops the list. This way, while Nadal's prize money earned sums up to be an estimated $135 million, his net worth is estimated to be $220 million (Source: Celebrity Net Worth), making him not just one of the richest tennis players, but also one of the top-earning athletes across all sports.

Additionally, Nadal has won a range of awards including five ATP Player of the Year Awards, and two Laureus World Sportsman of the Year awards and has signed numerous endorsement deals with several brands including Nike, Kia Motors and Emporio Armani among others.

Nadal owns a range of properties to his name along with investments in the famous Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy, among a range of ventures, both philanthropic and otherwise.

However, while he is financially ahead of most tennis players, if one delves into numbers, the world of sports is dominated by athletes who have a much higher net worth.

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Other sportspersons and their earnings

While Nadal and Djokovic are well above other tennis players in terms of their net worth, if one extends the discussion to other sportspersons, the case is slightly different.

When it comes to the top earning athletes of other sports, if one looks at Tiger Woods representing Golf, the American has an estimated net worth of $800 million (Source: Celebrity Net Worth), almost $600 million ahead of Nadal while the National Basketball Association (NBA) star LeBron James has a net worth of $700 million.

Similarly, considering the craze of football in Nadal's homeland, players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo who played a significant part of their career in the Spanish Football League and around the same time as when Nadal represented his country in the international tennis arena, the comparison presents yet another observation.

Both Messi and Ronaldo are regarded as the richest footballers of all time with an estimated net worth of $650 million and $ 600 million (Source: Celebrity Net Worth) respectively, well ahead of the King of Clay.

In terms of the Forbes list of the world's richest athletes, despite a relatively lower net worth and owing to inactivity, even though Roger Federer gathered lesser on-court earnings over the years, the Swiss' off-court earnings not only placed him in the list of the world's richest athletes but in terms of just the said earnings, placed Federer ahead of even Woods and Messi.

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Nadal and other top-earning athletes: A comparison

Earlier this year Nadal signed a deal to be the brand ambassador of the Saudi Arabia Tennis Federation and received a lot of backlash wherein fans also dug out an old interview where Nadal claimed that money was not his priority and said (via The Statesman):

"In terms of managing assets, perhaps it would be better to go to another country with more beneficial conditions, but Spain is where I'm happy, with my family and friends."

He added,"In another country, I would have double the money but be only half as happy. Money doesn't buy happiness."

In this regard, Nadal was also compared to Ronaldo and Messi for choosing a lucrative offer. However, while Nadal has stated that the reason behind this move stems from the fact that he sees real potential in the country and hence wants to promote tennis in that region, tennis fans, especially Nadal supporters are not as much in favour of this move. Additionally, the Spaniard is also looking to establish a Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy there.

On the other hand, despite the million dollars that are being added to the Spaniard's account, it is hard to determine whether he will still match up to the net worth of the aforementioned sportspersons and what they are earning through their respective sports and what comes from the brands they are endorsing.

Nevertheless, within the realm of tennis, it suffices to say that along with earning the title of being the GOAT and one of the Big Three, the Spaniard is one of the richest tennis players of all time.