There is still a significant gap in prize pools for men and women on the ATP and WTA Tours. At this month’s Western & Southern Open, for example, $6.6 million in prize money was awarded to the men, while the women played for $2.8 million.
The WTA has announced a plan to reach full pay equity with the men’s ATP Tour by 2033. When accounting for off-court endorsements and on-court prize earnings, five women rank among this year’s ten highest-paid tennis players, according to Forbes, matching the highest total in the 16 years of its rankings.
The top-ten highest-paid players have made a combined $196 million over the past 12 months. It marks a significant 38% drop for the sport from last year’s $316 million total, mainly driven by the retirements of Serena Williams and Roger Federer—who combined $125 million in earnings on Forbes’ 2022 list.
Eight of the top-10 players on this year’s list are under age 30—giving room for rising players to develop further as men’s tennis moves past its Big Three era of dominance from the retired Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal, who is sitting out of the upcoming U.S. Open in New York due to a hip injury.
Djokovic, 36, enters the U.S. Open as the second seed for men’s singles behind 20-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, and the two are the highest-paid tennis players of the past 12 months. Below is the complete top-10 list from Forbes.
| Rank | Player | Total | On-Court | Off-Court |
| 1. | Novak Djokovic | $38.4 million | $13.4M | $25M |
| 2. | Carlos Alcaraz | $31.4 million | $11.4M | $20M |
| 3. | Iga Swiatek | $22.4 million | $8.4M | $14M |
| 4. | Daniil Medvedev | $20.1 million | $7.1M | $13M |
| 5. | Rafael Nadal | $15.5 million | $1.5M | $14M |
| 6. | Emma Raducanu | $15.3 million | $0.3M | $15M |
| 7. | Coco Gauff | $15.2 million | $3.2M | $12M |
| 8. | Casper Rudd | $14.4 million | $6.4M | $8M |
| 9. | Naomi Osaka | $12.1 million | $0.1M | $12M |
| 10. | Jessica Pegula | $10.9 million | $4.9M | $6M |
