Djokovic Beats Federer, Nadal As Top Prize Money Earner In 2018
In addition to his many achievements in 2018, Novak Djokovic will also end the year as the top prize money earner on the ATP Tour.
As he continued to recover from his elbow problems in the first half of the year, Djokovic's career resurgence really began in the second half when he emerged victorious at Wimbledon in July for his first Grand Slam title in over two years.
The Serbian would later win the Cincinnati Masters before going on to win his 14th Grand Slam title with his US Open win in September. His fourth title of the year came last month when he won the Shanghai Masters before he returned to the top of the rankings at the end of the month.
Rafael Nadal's injury problems meant Djokovic would also end 2018 as the top-ranked player in tennis as while he could not cap his year with a victory at the ATP Finals, it was still a monumental year nonetheless for the 31-year-old who will be a big favorite heading into the new season.
His return to the top has also seen him beat the likes of Nadal and Roger Federer when it comes to calendar year prize money.
Having finished as a finalist in the ATP Finals over the weekend, Djokovic ended his year with prize money earnings of $12,609,672, according to the official ATP website. It also takes his total career prize money earnings to $122,447,589 — the most on the ATP Tour.
Nadal comes second with prize money earnings of $8,663,347. Considering he last played in August during the US Open, he would have likely been closer to Djokovic had it not been for his injury problems.
The Spaniard was at the top of the rankings for most of the year and ended his campaign with five titles including an 11th French Open crown. His total career prize money earnings, meanwhile, is now $103,251,975.
Recent ATP Finals winner Alexander Zverev rounds out the top three with prize money earnings of $7,726,914, having ended the year with four titles. The 21-year-old German now holds career prize money earnings of $14,907,928.
Federer, meanwhile, finishes in fourth with prize money earnings of $7,599,233. The Swiss legend started off the year in emphatic fashion with his 20th Grand Slam victory in the Australian Open followed by titles in Rotterdam, which at the time made him the oldest No. 1 in history, as well as Stuttgart.
However, his performances declined thereon as he would only win at his hometown Basel Open event for the remainder of the year. The 37-year-old's career prize money earnings stand at $119,484,916.
While Federer finished fourth in prize money earnings this year, he will still trump Djokovic, Nadal and Zverev when it comes to overall earnings where endorsements are included.
The 20-time Grand Slam winner was named the highest-paid tennis player by Forbes earlier this year for the 13th year in a row with $65 million of his $77.2 million earnings at the time coming just from endorsements. Djokovic and Nadal, meanwhile, made $23.5 million and $41.4 million from endorsements, respectively, in the same time period.
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