Roger Federer has once again confirmed his place at the top of the sporting tree, making more money from endorsements than any other athlete in the world. Federer amassed a whopping US$60 million in off-court earnings, beat off competition from the likes of LeBron James ($54 million) and Phil Mickelson ($50 million) to top the list.
Federer has a number of long-standing commercial deals, including Nike, Wilson, Rolex and Mercedes (amongst others).
Novak Djokovic was the second highest-earning tennis player in terms of endorsements, taking home $34 million over the past 12 months. Rafael Nadal, Kei Nishikori and Andy Murray all made the list for the men.
On the women’s side, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova were tied for endorsement monies ($20 million) over the last 12 months, but Serena’s on-court earnings propelled her to No.40 on the list for overall pay, while Maria came in at No.88.
Forbes World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2016 (Top 5 + tennis players)
| Number | Athlete | Pay | Salary / Winnings | Endorsements | Sport |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | $88m | $56m | $32m | Soccer |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | $81.4m | $53.4m | $28m | Soccer |
| 3 | LeBron James | $77.2m | $23.2m | $54m | Basketball |
| 4 | Roger Federer | $67.8m | $7.8m | $60m | Tennis |
| 5 | Kevin Durant | $56.2m | $20.2m | $36m | Basketball |
| 6 | Novak Djokovic | $55.8m | $21.8m | $34m | Tennis |
| 21 | Rafael Nadal | $37.5m | $5.5m | $32m | Tennis |
| 29 | Kei Nishikori | $33.5m | $3.5m | $30m | Tennis |
| 40 | Serena Williams | $28.9m | $8.9m | $20m | Tennis |
| 74 | Andy Murray | $23m | $8m | $15m | Tennis |
| 88 | Maria Sharapova | $21.9m | $21.2m | $20m | Tennis |
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