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The amount of prize money won by tennis players came into question with the advent of the Open Era, where amateurs and professionals played under one roof. The International Tennis Federation and the Men's Tennis Council administered the men's tour between 1974-1989. In the late 1980s, players began to raise concerns over various aspects of the sport, which included finances.
In 1988, a proposal was made by the then ATP CEO Hamilton Jordan to establish the ATP tour. By 1990, most of the Top 100 players (including eight of the Top 10) agreed to play on the tour. Today, the ATP tour governs men's tennis globally.
The current circuit is made up of tournaments that are categorized based on the ranking points they offer. The higher the tournament category, the more money it offers.
At the lowest level of tour-level events are the ATP 250 events, whose average prize money is $615,151. Next comes the ATP 500 tournaments with an average of $1,803,832.
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The Masters 1000 events offer $5,007,832 and the year-ending finals give away $7,250,000. At the summit are the four Slams, governed by the ITF. These are worth an average prize money of $24,266,872.
This year, the prize money leaders are Rafael Nadal ($6.3 million), Carlos Alcaraz ($4.3 million) and Novak Djokovic ($4.2 million).
On that note, here's a look at the all-time prize money leaders on the ATP tour as of July 18, 2022.
#5) Pete Sampras
In the 1990s, Pete Sampras dominated tennis like no other, winning 14 singles Majors and occupying the World No.1 spot for 286 weeks. He was the leader of the Slam count at the time of his retirement in 2002.
A winner of two Australian Open titles, five US Open titles, and a then-record seven Wimbledon titles, Sampras won 49 other tour-level singles titles in his career.
The only Slam Sampras could not win was the French Open, where his best result was reaching the semis in 1996. Pistol Pete, as he is popularly known, won the year-ending championships five of the six times he made the finals.
The 11-time Masters title winner won $43,280,489 in prize money in his career. In terms of single season earnings, his most successful season was 1997, when he won $6,498,311.
#4) Andy Murray
Three-time singles Slam champion Andy Murray has won a career prize money worth $62,913,301, along with 46 singles titles. A five-time Australian Open runner-up, the former World No.1 has twice won the Wimbledon Championships alongside one US Open title.
The 2016 year-ending championship winner is a two-time Olympic gold medallist. The 14-time Masters titles winner's best season in terms of prize money won came in 2016 when he won $16,349,701, which is to date the second biggest amount that a player has won in a single season on the ATP Tour.
#3) Roger Federer
It should come as no surprise that the Big 3 of tennis occupy the top three positions on this list. Roger Federer, the 20-time Grand Slam champion who completed his Career Slam in 2009, has won 103 tour-level singles titles, second only to Jimmy Connors. A winner of six Australian Opens, one French Open, eight Wimbledons and five US Open titles, Federer was ranked World No.1 for 310 weeks.
The six-time year-ending championship winner has won 28 Masters titles in his career. The 40-year-old has been on tour since 1998 and has won $130,594,339 in prize money. With $13,054,856, 2017 was his best season in terms of tennis earnings.
#2) Rafael Nadal
After winning his 14th French Open title, Rafael Nadal has become the leader of the Slam count with 22 singles Majors to his name. He has won the US Open title four times, along with two titles each at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
A winner of 92 singles titles, Nadal has 36 Masters titles to his name. The Spaniard has finished as a runner-up at the year-ending championships twice in his career and has won gold medals in both singles (2008) and doubles (2016) at the Olympics.
The Mallorcan has been a World No.1 player for 209 weeks. He has also won 11 tour-level doubles titles and is a former Top 30 player in this discipline of the sport.
Nadal's best years in terms of prize money won were 2013, 2017 and 2019 where he won $14,570,937, $15,864,000 and $16,349,586 respectively. His total earnings stand at $131,338,131.
#1) Novak Djokovic
21-time singles Slam winner Novak Djokovic is the leader of the career prize money chart. He has won nine Australian Opens, two French Opens, seven Wimbledons and three US Open titles.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion has won 88 singles titles in his career. A five-time tour finals winner, Djokovic has won a record 38 Masters titles. The two-time career Golden Masters champion has been a World No.1 for a record 373 weeks.
The Serb's best season in terms of prize money was 2015, where he earned a record $21,146,145 in a single season. Apart from his 2015 season, Djokovic's 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019 seasons are placed in the Top 10 category for most prize money won in a single season. His total earnings stand at $158,996,253.
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