The fight for who is the GOAT of tennis is a seemingly endless story: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have been waging the battle for almost two decades, without the winner still seeming to be defined and definitive.
These last two continue to accumulate Grand Slam titles, distancing themselves from the player who opened this new tennis season: three Slams played in 2022, two won by the Spaniard and one by the Serbian. If on the court it is still the youngest who fight and get victories, off the court the winner is definitely Roger Federer.
As every year at the US Open, Forbes publishes the list of the highest paid male and female tennis players on the circuit: once again, Roger Federer is the undisputed king of this classification; a record he holds for the 17th year.
Having not played a game in 2022, the $90 million he has earned in the last 12 months, according to Forbes, has come from sponsors: from UNIQLO to Rolex to his footwear line. The number one on the list doubles the runner-up: Naomi Osaka got a figure of 56.2 million.
The queen of tennis, Serena Williams, closes the podium. She is followed by the American, one step away from retiring from tennis, as she announced in the pages of Vogue, with 35.1 million. Therefore, the other two members of the Big 3, who see it from the last two steps, are missing from the podium.
In fourth place is Rafael Nadal, who exceeds the threshold of 30 million earned in the last 12 months.
Federer is ready for the Laver Cup
John McEnroe reckons it’s almost impossible to imagine Roger Federer losing early on despite his advanced age, a result of his unparalleled reputation and greatness.
“Roger is obviously entitled to do whatever he wants. And if he feels up to it, he could do some damage,” McEnroe said. “It’s hard to envision that at 41 that Federer could win a Major, but then again I said that six years ago when he came back after having not played for six months and having surgery at Wimbledon after the year I was with Milos and got to the finals.
You expect Roger to be Roger, to some degree. That’s because they’re so great that you always — it’s like when we saw Serena, you’re like, whoa, she lost first round at Wimbledon?” McEnroe said.
“You feel like it’s almost impossible no matter how long they haven’t played. Roger Federer is in that similar situation. He hasn’t played a match in, it will be 15 months.”
