Roger Federer, Swiss professional tennis player, is the world’s highest-paid athlete for 2020, according to the annual Forbes list released on Friday.
The 38-year-old tennis legend, who ranked fifth on last year’s list, overtook Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, two football stars, to take the number 1 spot — a feat that makes the Swiss the first player from his sport to top the list.
Federer’s $106.3 million earned from salaries and endorsements was $1.3 million higher than Ronaldo’s $105 million total in the last 12 months.
Messi ($104 million), Neymar ($95.5 million) and Lebron James ($88.2 million), US basketball player, rounded out the top five.
“The coronavirus pandemic triggered salary cuts for soccer stars Messi and Ronaldo, clearing the way for a tennis player to rank as the world’s highest-paid athlete for the first time,” said Kurt Badenhausen, senior editor at Forbes.
“Roger Federer is the perfect pitchman for companies, resulting in an unparalleled endorsement portfolio of blue-chip brands worth $100m a year for the tennis great.”
Here are Forbes’ top 10 highest-paid athletes for the last 12 months:
Roger Federer (tennis): $106.3 million
Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer): $105 million
Lionel Messi (soccer): $104 million
Neymar (soccer): $95.5 million
LeBron James (basketball): $88.2 million
Stephen Curry (basketball): $74.4 million
Kevin Durant (basketball): $63.9 million
Tiger Woods (golf): $62.3 million
Kirk Cousins (football): $60.5 million
Carson Wentz (football): $59.1 million
Last week, Naomi Osaka, Japanese tennis player, became the highest-earning female athlete ever.
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