A month after Serena Williams announced she would retire, another tennis legend is ready to hang up his racket. Roger Federer said Thursday that next week’s Laver Cup—a team tournament he cofounded in 2017—would be his final professional event.
Federer, 41, will leave behind an incredible legacy on the court, but however he stands in the eternal comparison with his longtime rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, he is without a doubt tennis’ all-time financial champion.
The Swiss ace has collected $131 million in prize money since turning pro in 1998, third in ATP Tour history behind Djokovic’s $159 million and Nadal’s $132 million. Off the court, however, it’s no contest. Federer has made roughly $1 billion (before taxes and agents’ fees) across his career just from his endorsements and other business endeavors, according to Forbes estimates. He remains sports’ top pitchman, with $90 million in annual off-court earnings, $10 million ahead of No. 2 LeBron James.
That success landed Federer at No. 7 on Forbes’ 2022 list of the world’s highest-paid athletes even though he won only about $700,000 in prize money during that time. He was the world’s highest-paid athlete on the 2020 list with a total of $106.3 million and has ranked as the highest-paid tennis player for 16 straight years.
Federer’s career earnings total of $1.1 billion before taxes and agents’ fees is more than twice Nadal’s $500 million and Djokovic’s $470 million, according to Forbes estimates. It also makes him one of just seven athletes across sports—alongside LeBron James, Floyd Mayweather, Lionel Messi, Phil Mickelson, Cristiano Ronaldo and Tiger Woods—to have surpassed $1 billion while still active.
Federer has long-term endorsement deals with over a dozen brands, and many of them have stuck with him for more than a decade, including Credit Suisse, Lindt, Mercedes and Rolex. In 2018, he left Nike, which had paid him roughly $150 million over the course of two decades, to sign an apparel deal with Uniqlo reportedly worth up to $300 million over ten years. When he was healthy, Federer could also command $2 million per event to play in exhibitions and smaller tournaments.
“The past three years have presented me with challenges in the form of injuries and surgeries,” Federer, who hasn’t played a competitive match since reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals in July 2021, said Thursday in his retirement announcement, posted to his social media accounts. “I’ve worked hard to return to full competitive form. But I also know my body’s capacities and limits, and its message to me lately has been clear.”
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