Alcaraz overtakes Djokovic as 2022 Prize Money leader, earns over $10 million
ATP
Carlos Alcaraz broke the $10 million barrier in 2022. He won the most prize money out of all players, overtaking even Novak Djokovic.
Every year, tennis players receive various bonuses for competing in certain ATP events. There are bonuses for the ATP 500 tournaments, but also for the ATP Masters 1000 events.
Bonuses are often based on the performance but also on the participation. If players don't play enough mandatory tournaments, they lose the right to earn bonuses.
Before the bonus pools were distributed, Alcaraz was the second player in the prize money list on the ATP Tour. The Spaniard earned $7,655,130 in prize money, while Novak Djokovic collected $9,934,582.
Behind the two were Rafael Nadal with $7,442,076 earned, and Casper Ruud, who collected a total of $6,942,316 in prize money in 2022.
But after the bonus pools were divided among the players, the ranking changed quite significantly. Alcaraz officially topped the year-end prize money rankings. The Spaniard earned $10,102,330 this season.
Djokovic's total remained unchanged, as he wasn't eligible for any bonuses. On the other hand, Nadal's total increased to $9,368,326. Ruud also earned over a million in bonuses, with his total for the season stopping at $8,126,816.
The only other ATP player who earned over $5 million was Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek player won $6,614,416 in prize money and bonuses in 2022.
With his impressive season, Alcaraz also became only the fifth man to earn over $10 million in one season on the tennis courts. The other four were, of course, Djokovic, Nadal, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray.
The best-ever season by a man in terms of prize money was Djokovic's 2015 season when the Serbian player won $21,646,145. Djokovic had a total of eight seasons when he won over $10 million. This year, he missed out on that feat by around $66,000.
2022 Top 10 ATP Prize Money Earners:
| Rank | Player | Prize Money |
| 1 | Carlos Alcaraz | $10,102,330 |
| 2 | Novak Djokovic | $9,934,582 |
| 3 | Rafael Nadal | $9,368,326 |
| 4 | Casper Ruud | $8,126,816 |
| 5 | Stefanos Tsitsipas | $6,614,416 |
| 6 | Felix Auger-Aliassime | $4,801,292 |
| 7 | Andrey Rublev | $4,666,954 |
| 8 | Taylor Fritz | $4,570,481 |
| 9 | Daniil Medvedev | $4,178,524 |
| 10 | Hubert Hurkacz | $3,764,164 |
