For the first time in his career, the world No. 1 Jannik Sinner has found himself at the top of Forbes’ highest-paid tennis players list, with total estimated earnings of $58 million in the last 12 months. Those earnings are divided into $23 million from on-court prize money and bonuses, the best on-court figure ever recorded on the list, and $35 million from endorsements, including a new Allianz partnership. 

The Italian dethrones two-time reigning leader Carlos Alcaraz, who finishes second at $53.7 million, still comfortably tennis’ top off-court earner at $38 million despite missing Roland Garros and Wimbledon through injury. Sinner’s $23 million on-court figure was fueled by a record 34-match winning streak in Masters 1000 matches and a fifth career Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in July, and it arrives even though Sinner himself will miss this year’s US Open, the very tournament that decides next year’s list, after picking up a knee injury. 

The 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams has been drafted at No. 3 with $40.1 million, with the majority of her revenue coming from endorsements, as she has just played six matches this season in which she won $131,932 in prize money, putting her well ahead of every other woman in tennis even after coming from a four-year layoff. Aryna Sabalenka ($36.1 million) and Coco Gauff ($35.5 million) round out the top five, followed by Novak Djokovic, Qinwen Zheng, Iga Swiatek, Alexander Zverev and Elena Rybakina. 

For the first time in the list’s 19-year history, women (six) outnumber men (four) in the top ten, with the cutoff rising to a record $17.4 million. The combined top ten earned an estimated $333 million, up 17 percent from last year, though still short of the record $343 million set in 2020.

A very different story topped last year’s list

The picture looked different at the top last year. In 2025, Alcaraz had topped the list for the second straight year with $48.3 million, and Sinner was narrowly behind with $47.3 million. On the women’s side, it was Coco Gauff sitting atop the field with $37.2 million, the bulk of it, $25 million, coming from endorsements after she won Roland Garros and became the world’s highest-paid female athlete across all sports for a third straight year. 

Gauff has since been overtaken twice over, first by Sabalenka and now by Williams, even as her own total has actually grown slightly to $35.5 million, a reminder of just how much Williams’ return and Sinner’s on-court explosion have reshaped the list rather than any decline on Gauff’s part.

Whether either new leader holds on for another year may hinge heavily on how the US Open itself plays out. Alcaraz is just $4.3 million behind Sinner, and he will be back in New York as the reigning champion fighting for an eighth major in the absence of Sinner. A deep run, or another title, would put him within easy reach of reclaiming top spot next year. 

Djokovic ranked sixth with $30.2 million, whose documentary film recently dropped on Amazon Prime on August 20. He will be chasing his 25th Grand Slam title at the US Open, and if he manages to do so, then the winner’s cheque of $5.5 million can make him the first player in history to cross $200 million in career prize money, but that will not help him break into the top of the Forbes list. 

On the women’s side, Sabalenka comes in as the defending champion and is even protecting her world No. 1 ranking from Elena Rybakina. Belarusian is the favorite to win the tournament, and in that case, this would be her third consecutive US Open title and enough to overtake Williams for the top women’s spot next year, considering little to no on court earning for her.