place with an impressive roster of off-court endorsements. Rafael Nadal, a six-time Grand Slam Champion, supplanted Roger Federer as the Number One ranked player last year, but lost the top ranking after being unable to defend his Wimbledon title this past summer. Nonetheless, Nadal has expanded his off-court income in the past year or two and is in third place on the Forbes list. Serena Williams, who won three of the past five Grand Slam titles is in fourth place. Andy Roddick, the top-ranked American man for most of the past decade, is in fifth place. The rest of the top ten includes: five-time Wimbledon Champion, Venus Williams; 2008 Australian Open Champion, Novak Djokovic; 2008 French Open Champion, Ana Ivanovic, as well as Scotsman, Andy Murray, and American, James Blake, both of whom have yet to win a Grand Slam title.

Clearly, success in the Grand Slams can catapult a player into a different stratosphere in terms of off-court endorsement opportunities. For example, Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic both increased their earning potential dramatically after winning Grand Slam titles last year although Ivanovic's poor form in 2009 has decreased her leverage. At the same time, good looks, nationality and charisma also factor into off-court endorsements. For example, Andy Roddick has only won one Grand Slam title so far during his career at the 2003 U.S. Open and James Blake has none, but they are highly-ranked Americans and charming, good-looking guys! As a result, they've made the top ten on the Forbes list. On the other side of the pond, Andy Murray is the great hope of England and his impressive off-court income illustrates how badly Great Britain wants another Grand Slam champion.

Listed below is a breakdown of the earnings of the top ten players according to the Forbes report:

1. Roger Federer
Annual earnings: $36 million
Career prize money: $50 million

2. Maria Sharapova
Annual earnings: $22.5 million
Career prize money: $12.6 million

3. Rafael Nadal
Annual earnings: $20 million
Career prize money: $25.2 million

4. Serena Williams
Annual earnings: $18 million
Career prize money: $26 million

5. Andy Roddick
Annual earnings: $16 million
Career prize money: $16.8 million

6. Venus Williams
Annual earnings: $14.5 million
Career prize money: $23.9 million

7. Andy Murray
Annual earnings: $12 million
Career prize money: $8.5 million

8. Novak Djokovic
Annual earnings: $10.5 million
Career prize money: $12.9 million

9. Ana Ivanovic
Annual earnings: $8 million
Career prize money: $7 million

10. James Blake
Annual earnings: $7 million
Career prize money: $6.6 million

Posted by TC at 10:42 PM |