Roger Federer surpasses Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to become world’s highest-paid athlete

The Swiss earned $106.3million in the last 12 months, including $100m via endorsements, to move up four places and become the first tennis player to top the list

Roger Federer is the world’s highest-paid athlete for 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic knocked football’s Lionel Messi off top spot, according to the annual Forbes list.

The Swiss tennis great, owner of a men’s record 20 Grand Slam singles titles, earned $106.3million in the last 12 months, including $100m via endorsements, to move up four places and become the first player from his sport to top the list.

Footballers Cristiano Ronaldo ($105m), Messi ($104m) and Neymar ($95.5m) and basketball player LeBron James ($88.2m) 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 $100 million a year for the tennis great.”

Japan’s Naomi Osaka ($37.4m), who was ranked 29th on the list, surpassed fellow tennis player Serena Williams ($36m) as the world’s highest-earning female athlete.

Osaka and Williams were the only women on the list.

Basketball players led all sports with 35 players among the top 100. American football occupied 31 spots, none higher than six-times Super Bowl champion Tom Brady ($45 million) who was ranked 25th.

Soccer was the next most represented sport with 14 players, followed by tennis (six), boxing and mixed marital arts (five), golf (four), motor racing (three), and baseball and cricket with one each.