Carlos Alcaraz’s results have netted him payday after payday, and the tennis star is far from done. Alcaraz pulled out of the Shanghai Masters after a recent victory in Tokyo but has another big encounter on the horizon – albeit a different one to the kind he and his rivals at the top of the game are used to. World No.1 Alcaraz is gearing up for an exhibition match against Brazilian star Joao Fonseca, with the duo set to face off in the United States.
Alcaraz and Fonseca have yet to meet on the ATP Tour, but will go toe-to-toe in Miami in December in what is sure to be a money-spinning event. Indeed, American ex-pro John Isner – a Wimbledon semi-finalist back in 2018 – anticipates the agreement to be great news for the Spaniard from a financial perspective. “He is the face of tennis. There’s no doubt about it. Fattening his wallet,” Isner joked when learning the exhibition match was a goer.
Alcaraz only turned 22 in May, but his wallet is already overflowing. In August, Forbes published its list of the world’s highest-paid tennis players and the man from Murcia came out on top.
The list put his earnings over the previous 12 months at an estimated US$48.3million (equivalent to £35.8m today) – up $6m from the year before that and just ahead of his great rival Jannik Sinner. Around $35m (£26m) of Alcaraz’s total comes from off-court earnings, making up for the fact that Sinner took home more than him from on-court results.
It’s still a drop in the ocean compared to some stars of other sports, though. No tennis players make it into Forbes’ top 50, though football, American football, basketball, baseball, boxing, golf and Formula 1 all represented.
According to official ATP figures, Alcaraz has won just over $16m (£11.9m) on the court in 2025 so far. That sum relates to ATP events specifically, and wouldn’t include a payout for an exhibition with Fonseca.
The biggest chunk of that comes from the US Open, with victory over Sinner in the final resulting in a $5m (£3.7m) payday. Other seven-figure scores arrived at Roland Garros, another site of a grand slam final victory over Sinner, and at Wimbledon where he came up short against the Italian on centre court.
This year’s earnings have lifted Alcaraz’s lifetime singles and doubles earnings above the $50m mark. He passed on the chance to add to that at the Shanghai Masters, though, as he chose to withdraw from the tournament.
