Novak Djokovic has broken his own career prize money record for the second time as he passes the $160 million milestone.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion already broke the record on two previous occasions, being the only player in either ATP or WTA history to pass $140 million and then $150 million.
But by winning his first round robin match at the ATP Finals on Monday, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-4, 7-6 (4), Djokovic guaranteed he will surpass $160 million in career prize money next Monday.
The Serb already has $159,951,008 in career prize money. Just by taking to the court for his first match at the ATP Finals he earned a $160,000 participation fee, and by winning it he earned $383,300. That means that even if he were to pull out of the event without playing another match, this extraordinary milestone has already been reached.
Going into this week's ATP Finals, the top ten career prize money earners across the ATP and the WTA stands as below.
- $159,951,008: Novak Djokovic
- $131,700,371: Rafael Nadal
- $130,594,339: Roger Federer
- $94,816,730: Serena Williams
- $63,248,285: Andy Murray
- $43,280,489: Pete Sampras
- $42,403,103: Venus Williams
- $40,203,437: Simona Halep
- $38,777,962: Maria Sharapova
- $35,330,662: Stan Wawrinka
Given the illustrious careers that his long-time rivals, Nadal and Federer, have had and the fact that Djokovic only reached the peak of his powers several years after they had established themselves, this achievement is really quite remarkable.
The five-time ATP Finals champion is in Turin this week to try to equal yet another of Roger Federer's records. If the Serb wins the title this year, he will pull level with the Swiss maestro on 6 titles apiece.
Spanish rival Nadal has already exited the tournament after two worrying displays that perhaps shed more light on the extraordinary exertions he put into the first half of his season than anything else.
Nevertheless, it is Novak who once again has the records in his grasp. Having just been cleared to return to the Australian Open in January as well, it begs the question as to who or what could possibly stop Djokovic from taking them all.
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