Djokovic's staggering career earnings reaching untouchable heights

Three grand slams and another ATP finals victory, 2023 was yet another successful year for Novak Djokovic who is showing no signs of slowing down as he enters his 22nd year as a professional.

The Serbian turns 37 in May which will be during his 21st full season on the ATP, and has achieved almost everything in tennis with the exception of an Olympic gold. With Paris hosting the Games next July-August, a city where he has won three French Open titles and seven Paris Masters, it will likely be his last chance to tick that off his career achievements.

On Monday, Djokovic won a record-breaking seventh ATP Finals title with a straight-set victory over home favourite Jannik Sinner. Djokovic entered the match tied with Roger Federer on six titles at the season-ending tournament for the year’s top eight players. But Djokovic was in imperious form and won 14 straight points from the end of the first set to the third game of the second to leave him firmly in control and subdue the Turin crowd.

He started 2023 with a record-extending 10th Australian Open title and went on to claim his 23rd Grand Slam singles trophy at the French Open, breaking Rafael Nadal’s mark. Djokovic, who lost the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz, also won the US Open.

“One of the best seasons I’ve had in my life, no doubt,” Djokovic said. “To crown it with a win against a hometown hero in Jannik, who has played amazing tennis this week, is phenomenal.”

Djokovic had already secured the year-end No. 1 ranking for a record-extending eighth time by winning his opening match at the ATP Finals.

Djokovic became the first player to hold the No. 1 ranking for 400 weeks, with Roger Federer at 310 the only other man to eclipse the 300-week mark.

It was also only the second time in the last 15 years that a player has made the finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments and the ATP Finals. The only previous occasion was when Djokovic did it in 2015.

Career prize money $US180.6m ($15.9m in 2023)
Down to the last dollar, Djokovic has won US180,643,353 ($NZ 299,486,808) across his career. That is on court earnings only and doesn’t include sponsorship deals which according to Forbes is around US$30m a year. This year Djokovic earned around US$261,247 per match with a total of $15.9m in prizemoney. Carlos Alcaraz was next on the list with US$10.7m, a third less than Djokovic.

Where he stands:
Novak Djokovic: US$180.6m
Rafael Nadal - US$134.6m
Roger Federer - US$130.6m

Career titles - 98 (7 in 2023)
A record-breaking seventh ATP Finals title took Djokovic’s total tally to 98 singles titles. It was his seventh title of 2023 and he needs five more titles to equal Roger Federer for second place while Jimmy Connors has the all-time male record with 109 singles titles.

In terms of overall titles (including doubles and mixed), John McEnroe leads the way with 155 titles (77 singles, 77 doubles, one mixed. In his career to date, Djokovic has one doubles title, leaving him with 99 in total.

Martina Navratilova appears untouchable with 167 singles titles and 354 total titles.

Where he stands:
Jimmy Connors 109
Roger Federer 103
Novak Djokovic 98

Finals appearances - 138 (8 in 2023)
Djokovic made eight finals in 2023, the only one he lost was Wimbledon where he went down to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets. He’s now made 138 finals over his career and has a 98-40 record with a winning percentage of 71, fifth best of all time with a minimum of 25 finals appearances. Notable players on the list Pete Sampras (72.7 percent), Rafael Nadal (70.8 percent), Andre Agassi (66.7 percent) and Roger Federer (65.61 percent).

Where he stands:
Jimmy Connors 164
Roger Federer 157
Ivan Lendl 146
Novak Djokovic 138

Career wins - 1086 (55 in 2023)
Djokovic played 61 matches this year with his 90 percent winning record ranked his third best (93 percent in 2015, and 92 percent in 2011). He’s at least another three similar seasons away from reaching Federer in second on the men’s all-time win list.

Where he stands:
Jimmy Connors 1274
Roger Federer 1251
Novak Djokovic 1086

Career matches - 1298 (61 in 2023)
Djokovic is just two matches shy of becoming the fourth man to reach the 1300 mark. Being in such great form means he’s not reducing his load playing 12 more matches than he did last year. Djokovic entered 12 tournaments in 2023, the most since 2015. Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev played an impressive 82 matches this year, the most on the ATP Tour.

Where he stands:
Jimmy Connors 1557
Roger Federer 1526
Ivan Lendl 1310
Novak Djokovic 1298

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission