Novak Djokovic has had an outstanding 2023, transitioning into his 36th year of life in style. After winning 3 Grand Slams, Djokovic has won $10,581,665 in prize money this year already. The 24-time Grand Slam champion is the only men’s singles player this year to cross the $10 million mark in on-court earnings.
No player has breached that milestone more than Novak Djokovic in tennis history. It is worth noting that Djokovic is also the all-time leader across all categories of tennis when it comes to prize money winnings. At $175,281,484, the Serbian superstar is nearly $41 million ahead of the next best and his biggest rival, Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic has earned $10 million in a season for 9 years of his career
Novak Djokovic has created another prize money record which will surely last for the next 10 years, having to do with the $10 million he has earned this year. 2023 is his 9th year of earning that much in one season. This is more than double that of Nadal, who has achieved the feat 4 times in his career so far.
Djokovic was virtually unstoppable and the most consistent ATP Tour player from 2011 to 2016. In 2011, he became the third player in history after Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to breach the landmark. For winning 3 Grand Slams and 10 ATP titles overall, he took home an impressive $12.75 million.
A year later, Novak Djokovic bettered that effort slightly with a $12.8 million. This was largely due to his winning the Australian Open, ATP World Tour Finals, player bonuses and the US Open series bonus worth $500,000. A similar story followed in his 2013 season, although the amount was lesser, i.e. $12.48 million.
DID YOU KNOW❓
With his $3 Million payday for winning the US Open, 🇷🇸 Novak Djokovic surpassed $10 Million in prize money for the NINTH year in his career: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2023. 💰
No other player has had more than four $10 Million seasons. 💥
— TENNIS (@Tennis) September 14, 2023
In 2014, Novak Djokovic won the Wimbledon and the ATP Tour Finals amongst the 7 titles he won. It made him take home his then career best of $14.27 million. But there was a lot more to come as 2015 was when Djokovic was at his dominant best.
Winning 3 Grand Slams and the ATP World Tour Finals that year as well out of his whopping 11 ATP titles made Novak Djokovic earn a never-heard-of earlier, $21.14 million in the 2015 season alone. No other player has breached the $20 million mark in the history of the game.
In 2016, Novak Djokovic still managed to bag an impressive $14.1 million for winning 2 Grand Slams and 3 Masters 1000 titles. It took nearly 18 months for Djokovic to bounce back. In the second half of 2018, he won Wimbledon, Cincinnati Masters, US Open and the Shanghai Masters to end up earning $15.97 million that year. Come 2019 and Djokovic again was consistent, winning 2 Grand Slams and 2 Masters 1000 titles to earn $13.37 million.
Novak Djokovic trumps Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal in prize money
Rafael Nadal is second to Novak Djokovic, winning more than $10 million in a season 4 times in his career. 2010 was the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s first time doing so, with a handsome $10.17 million paycheck. His other years were as expected – 2013 ($14.57 million), 2017 ($15.86 million) and 2019 (his highest so far at $16.35 million).
On the other hand, Roger Federer is the founding member of the men’s singles $10 million prize money club. Federer got to the landmark first way back in 2007 when earnings for winning were much lesser than today. The Swiss maestro won 3 Grand Slams out of 4, with the 4th one being a loss in the French Open final to Nadal.
Roger Federer also won the ATP World Tour Finals and the US Open series bonus of $1 million. So his total winnings from 2007 were $10.13 million. The only other year in which he breached the $10 million mark was in 2017, when he took him $13.05 million. Overall, Federer ended up with $130.59 million in prize money in his career.
Amongst players who are currently playing, apart from Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, only 1 player has won $10 million in a year. It is Carlos Alcaraz who did so in 2022 at $10.1 million. The young Spaniard could break the bank again this year depending on his performances in upcoming tournaments.
