Roger Federer has not won a Grand Slam title this year, but the 17-time Grand Slam champion topped Forbes magazine’s list of the 10 top tennis moneymakers announced on Monday.
The Swiss star made US$56.2 million from July last year through June, with endorsement deals from such firms as Rolex and Nike bringing the lion’s share of that total, more than US$40 million.
At age 33, Federer owns three titles this year and was a Wimbledon runner-up, dropping the final in five sets to top-ranked Novak Djokovic.
Five men and five women made this year’s list.
Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who won his ninth French Open crown in June, ranked second on the list at US$44.5 million, but was on the sidelines on Monday as the US Open began in New York because of a wrist injury. Nadal had US$30 million in sponsor money.
Serbia’s Djokovic was third with US$33.1 million, including US$12.1 million in prize money.
Russia’s Maria Sharapova was fourth overall, but topped the women on the list with US$24.4 million, US$22 million of it from endorsement deals.
China’s Li Na, who won her second Grand Slam title in January at the Australian Open, was fifth on US$23.6 million, with US$18 million in endorsement income. She is absent from the US Open with a knee injury.
World No. 1 Serena Williams ranked sixth on the money list with US$22 million, half from prize money.
Britain’s Andy Murray, whose earnings jumped more than US$4 million after he last year became the first British man to win the Wimbledon crown since 1936, ranked seventh on US$19.1 million, with US$15 million of that from endorsements.
With his Adidas contract expiring this year, a lucrative new deal with Adidas or Nike could raise his total next year no matter how he fares at this year’s US Open.
Victoria Azarenka was eighth at US$11.1 million, with US$7.5 million from endorsements, with Japan’s Kei Nishikori ninth on US$11 million, which included US$9 million in sponsorship deals, and Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki 10th on US$10.8 million, US$9.5 million of that from endorsements.
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