Although Roger Federer retired from tennis in 2022, the Federer vs Djokovic debate on who had better peaks in the game, who is a better player, who is more popular etc. continues. While the Swiss superstar was a trailblazer on achieving never-heard-before wins and numbers as well as marketability at one point of time, the much younger Novak Djokovic seems adamant on breaking all those benchmarks set by him. Both the players have legendary records at the Wimbledon and the Australian Open and took home record-breaking prize money home.
Undoubtedly, Novak Djokovic already has the advantage of winning a lot in the 2010s and also, Monte Carlo’s tax laws are much more lenient than Switzerland’s. Roger Federer won the Wimbledon a record 8 times, in the years from 2003-2007, 2009, 2012 and 2017. He was also the first-ever non-American player to win more than $1 million in prize money, which was at the Wimbledon and the US Open back in 2004.
In his 24-year career, Roger Federer had a remarkable 22 appearances at Wimbledon, only missing out in his final season in 2022 due to injury while the 2020 tournament was called off due to Covid-19. Courtesy his big title wins and making it also to the finals 4 times in 2008, 2014, 2015 and 2019, Federer earned a whopping $19,082,676 from his overall performances in London. This excludes taxes and appearance fees and is considered after taking inflation and exchange rates into account.
Roger Federer was no doubt helped by the fact that the Wimbledon remains the highest-paying Grand Slam in the tennis calendar. But it is stunning that out of his 22 outings, on 12 occasions in total, he has either won the title or been a finalist. In his later years, that helped him bag $1 million plus in prize money even if he didn’t end up lifting the trophy.
On the other hand, Novak Djokovic took to Melbourne like fish does to sea. He won the first Grand Slam of his career back in 2008 there. But it was after his marathon victory after more than 5 hours 30 minutes in the 2012 final against the 2009 champion, Rafael Nadal that made the current World No.1 never look back.
Apart from 2008, 2011 and 2012, Djokovic had an incredible run at the Australian Open, winning in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023. Just because of those 10 victories, the Serbian legend has earned $23,282,045 from those alone. So besides taxes, other charges, exchange rates and appearance fees, it does not include his performances in other years. Even if Djokovic has never been a runner up in Australia, he had 3 quarterfinals showings in 2009, 2010 and 2014 respectively.
Like Federer at Wimbledon, Djokovic only had 2 lean years in the Australian Open after he became a Grand Slam champion, i.e. in 2017 and 2018 which ironically were the last 2 instances of the Swiss winning the title in Melbourne. This is assuming that the Serb’s 2005, 2006 and 2007 performances are not taken into consideration. So that figure would easily go past the $25 million, making Novak Djokovic the outright winner over Roger Federer. This is despite the Australian dollar not being stronger than the Sterling pound or the Euro, and the Australian Open not paying much as Wimbledon.
Additionally, Novak Djokovic has had just 18 appearances at the Australian Open, which is 4 lesser than Roger Federer at Wimbledon. The only time Djokovic missed out playing in Melbourne was in 2022 due to the Covid-19 vaccination fiasco. When it comes to overall career prize money, the 24-time Grand Slam champion is now almost $50 million ahead of Roger Federer.
Novak Djokovic could equal or break multiple Roger Federer records in 2024
Novak Djokovic has an opportunity to level with Roger Federer at Wimbledon, missing out this year thanks to Carlos Alcaraz winning the final. Djokovic stands with 7 title wins there, being just one way from being the second King of Grass. The Serb also has a chance to win his 5th US Open title in 2024, which would also mean that he would join Federer for this feat in New York City and go past Rafael Nadal.
Roger Federer has never won an Olympic men’s singles gold medal, which Novak Djokovic could in the Paris 2024 Games. Djokovic could also become the oldest man in three decades to win a Grand Slam if he wins the Australian Open, overtaking Roger Federer who also won in Melbourne in 2018 in his 37th year. Whereas, Djokovic is aiming to do what Federer has never done in his career, winning all 4 Grand Slams in a year. He also has a golden opportunity to go past Federer’s 103 ATP title wins count, which is the second of all-time at the moment. Djokovic stands currently at an impressive 98 after his ATP Finals 2023 win.
