5 Highest On-Court Earners in Tennis History

While tennis doesn't dominate the ESPN Bottom Line, the sport boasts some of the biggest names in pop culture. Tennis stars are international celebrities, and also have the privilege of playing one of the most individualistic sports there is.

It is the one of the few sports where money directly correlates with victories, thanks to the prize pool, making it fair to judge the legacy of a tennis player on their career earnings. By that metric, and coming off an exciting Australian Open, here are the all-time greats in the sport of tennis.

5. Andy Murray: $61,544,007

Murray, now hobbled and facing long odds in an attempted comeback bid, has had an excellent career. He's a three-time Grand Slam tournament winner, two-time Olympic champion, Davis Cup champion, winner of the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals, and former world No. 1. The accolades alone would make him one of the highest-paid players in a sport where checks are cut by an overarching team, but he earned all $61 million of those lifetime earnings by himself.

4. Serena Williams: $92,640,883

Williams is not only one of the most transcendent athletes of this generation, but she's one of the richest as well. As an inspirational figure for African-American women, Williams has more singles titles than any player, man or woman, in the Open Era. She's won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, all with her sister Venus, and the pair are unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals.

3. Rafael Nadal: $120,563,647

At the moment, Nadal is the No. 1 singles player in the world. He is one of only three players to achieve a nine-figure total career earnings. He is known as the greatest clay court player of all time with 59 clay court titles, the most in history. Throw the all-time record of 12 French Open titles on there, and you have a very wealthy athlete.

2. Roger Federer: $129,232,891

In March of 2018, Tennis.com listed Federer as the greatest male player of the Open era. His achievements and earnings vindicate that label. No other male tennis player has won 20 major singles titles in the Open Era, nor has any male player held the world No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings longer than Federer. With eight Wimbledon men's singles titles and five consecutive US Open titles, his undeniable cultural impact might only be surpassed by his impact on the economy.

1. Novak Djokovic: $142,985,630

On Sunday, Djokovic overcame dizziness and dehydration to win his eighth Australian Open, and achieve and add another motherlode onto his career earnings, which was already the most all time before the match. With Sunday's dramatic victory, Djokovic is now the fourth player in the Open Era to win at least eight titles at any one major. Djokovic even has a chain of restaurants in his home country of Serbia. Novak Café & Restaurant, launched in 2008, is a food chain with a theme of celebrating Djokovic and his tennis success. While slightly narcissistic, we would probably do the same if we had that kind of money.