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Federer and Osaka top highest-paid athletes lists

  • Tennis Australia

Roger Federer has become the first tennis player to top the annual Forbes list of top-earning athletes, while Naomi Osaka heads the list of female athletes.

Federer moved ahead of soccer stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi with pre-tax earnings of US$106m.

The Swiss, a six-time Australian Open champion and 20-time major winner, is the ninth athlete to top the list since Forbes began tracking earnings in 1990.

Read: Forbes list of highest-paid athletes in the world

"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."

Osaka, who won her second Grand Slam title at the 2019 Australian Open, moved ahead of Serena Williams as the leading female athlete with US3.4m in prize money and US$34m in endorsements.

That is an all-time record for a woman in sport, with tennis stars Osaka (29th) and Williams (33rd) the only women to feature in the top-100 combined list.

“Osaka has established herself as a global sports marketing icon and brands are lining up,” said Forbes.