Two players have already crossed a $5 million mark in prize money earnings in 2024, and they are Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner.
While the prize money are bread and butter for most of the players ranked around the 100th place in the rankings and lower, the top players, ranked inside of the Top 5, most often make the vast majority of their money via sponsorship deals.
Only recently, Sinner signed a deal with Nike worth over $150 million, showing how minuscule the amount earned in prize money is to him, considering that the highest-ranked player on the ATP Tour has many more brand deals, including brands like Gucci, Formula 1, Lavazza, Rolex, and many, many more.
However, earning prize money is still very nice for tennis players, and it isn't only because of the monetary value, but because earning a lot means winning a lot, and at the end of the day, as athletes and competitive people, that's what they care about.
Currently, on the ATP Tour, it's the young Italian who leads the prize money rankings. Thanks to his run into the Roland Garros semi-final, in which he lost to Carlos Alcaraz, the world no. 1 player has earned $5,162,330 in 2024, out of which $5,137,734 comes from singles and $24,596 from doubles.
Closely behind him are Alexander Zverev, who accumulated $4,632,574 in 2024, and recent French Open champion Alcaraz, whose earnings are also close to the $5 million mark, with $4,517,181 pocketed over the first six months of the 2024 season.
On the WTA Tour, there is a much bigger gap between the leader and the rest of the pack. In 2024, Iga Swiatek is the top prize money earner, not just among women, but overall, having earned $6,683,749, mostly thanks to her recent run, which included winning the Madrid Open, the Italian Open in Rome, and the Roland Garros.
Behind the Polish player is Aryna Sabalenka, who accumulated $3,714,831 in 2024. Following the two is the recent French Open finalist, Jasmine Paolini, who, thanks to her incredible run, made it to third place among the prize money earners on the WTA Tour in 2024.
The Italian earned $2,799,735, which means that Swiatek earned more than the second and third prize money earners on the WTA Tour combined in 2024.