Novak Djokovic’s prize money earnings overtaken at 11th hour

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Novak Djokovic’s overall prize money record for 2022 has been overtaken at the conclusion of the season after world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz benefitted from the ATP’s bonus pool. The Serb had originally topped the standings for most earned this season with £8,089,730 ($9,934,582) but the Spaniard has now leapfrogged him to become the only man this year to earn eight figures, with a total of £8.2m ($10.1m) pocketed after a boost from the bonus pool.

Djokovic had previously cemented himself as this year’s highest-earning tennis player based on tournament winnings only, as he denied WTA world No 1 Iga Swiatek the chance to become the first woman in two decades to top the list with the 21-year-old earning £8.05m ($9.88m) this season. But the 21-time Grand Slam champion has now been surpassed by Alcaraz, who benefitted from the ATP’s bonus pool of money.

The bonus pool awards top players who complete their Masters 1000 and ATP Finals commitments, with eight players eligible this year and four receiving the extra cash – including Alcaraz. It takes the ATP world No 1’s overall prize money for the year to eight figures in American dollars – the standardised currency used for earnings on both tennis tours.

The 19-year-old’s biggest prize cheque this year came when he won the US Open, making him the first teenager to lift a Grand Slam trophy since Rafael Nadal in 2005. The final Major of the year offered their biggest-ever prize pot in 2022, with the winner earning £2.1m ($2.6m) compared to last year’s £2.0m ($2.5m).

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He picked up four other titles this season – two Masters 1000s in Miami and Madrid, and two ATP 500s in Rio and Barcelona. The Miami Open also offered a boosted prize pot this year, with a then-18-year-old Alcaraz walking away with £1m ($1.2m) for winning what was his first 1000-point title.

He also pocketed £275k (€320k) for his Madrid Open win, where he defeated Nadal and Djokovic back-to-back en route to the trophy. Alcaraz missed out on receiving an even bigger boost in his overall earnings for 2022 when he was left unable to play the ATP Finals, which held the biggest prize money pot in tennis history.

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An undefeated champion at the tournament – which turned out to be Djokovic – took home £3.8m ($4.7m), overtaking the previous record set at the 2019 WTA Finals in Shenzhen, when Ash Barty earned £3.4m ($4.2m) for going 4-1 in her matches throughout the week to be crowned the champion.

But Alcaraz couldn’t fight for the record prize pot as he got injured during the Paris Masters and was forced to shut down his season, withdrawing from the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup Finals, where Spain went on to lose their opening quarter-final tie to Croatia without their top two players Alcaraz and Nadal present.

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