Latest stats shock as they show tennis players depend on endorsements far more than any other athletes

Tennis has been named one of the only sports where its highest-paid athletes earn far more from endorsements than they do from salary or winnings in 2022.

Alongside golf - the only other individual sport that was looked at - tennis players earn a mammoth 84% of their income from endorsements from famous brands and advertisements. That leaves just 16% from winnings on the ATP and WTA tennis tours. Yet, golf players earn up to 36% from winnings and only 64% from various deals compared to staggering 84% of tennis players.

The exact figures for the best 15 tennis earners for 2022 were in total $355 million, with $298M from endorsements and just $57M earned from winnings. On the other hand, baseball players make $509 million as part of their salary and only $32 million from endorsements. Ice hockey players earned only $18 million in endorsements compared to $151 million in salaries.

Highest earning tennis star was, unsurprisingly, now-retired Swiss legend Roger Federer who added just $724,000 from winnings to his overall $85.7M, with an astonishing $85M raised from endorsements. These numbers saw Federer drop one place from last years list to eighth in the top 100 Highest-Paid Athletes in the world.

Naomi Osaka is the highest placed female player on the list with earnings of $53.2M taking her to 20th place in the top 100 earners. This is despite the Japanese player experiencing a difficult year on the court that has seen her play just 23 times, winning 14 and losing nine.

Osaka, like Federer, has dropped down five places to 20th.

Serena Williams, who by all accounts waved goodbye to tennis at the recent US Open in New York, has dropped outside the top 50 with her $35.3M amassed in 2022.

Still a healthy number, she earned $270,000 from tennis winnings this year, making those three the only players from tennis in the top 100 list.

Top of the list was basketball's LeBron James, who took home $126.9M this year, $36.9M from salary/winnings and $90M from endorsements.

The figures appears to show that, with the 'greatest' tag that is often attached to both Federer and Serena, two players who haven't played a lot of tennis in 2022, their dominant careers over near two decades mean companies still want to use them as the face of success, the face of their brand.