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Top-earning tennis players

Federer or Nadal? Tennis fans have spent the past four years debating which player has the upper hand as they traded Grand Slam titles back and forth. Between the two of them, they have won a staggering 17 of the past 18 Slam events (only Novak Djokovic's 2008 Australian Open win prevented a clean sweep). Roger Federer currently leads Rafael Nadal in career Slam wins 15 to 6, and when it comes to who has the bigger bank account, Federer also takes the title.

Federer earned $36 million over the past 12 months. His three Grand Slam wins and other tournament play netted him $8 million in prize money. Last year he passed Pete Sampras for the top spot in career prize money, and this year he took Sampras' crown for the most Slam titles. By winning his first-round match at this year's U.S. Open, Federer became the first player to surpass $50 million in career earnings on the court.

One thing that sets Federer apart from other players is the number of companies that are comfortable establishing long-term relationships with the 28-year-old Swiss pro. He has 10-year deals with Nike, Rolex, Wilson and Swiss coffee machine maker Jura.

Appearance fees and sponsorships with the above as well as the likes of Gillette and Mercedes added another $28 million to Federer's earnings. His 10-year Nike contract extension that he signed in 2008 is his biggest deal, worth more than $10 million annually.

Our ranking of the top-paid tennis stars looks at prize money, appearance fees, endorsements and bonuses in the 12 months leading up to this year's U.S. Open. Almost all players have clauses in their endorsement contracts, particularly with apparel, shoe and racket deals, that outline bonuses based on year-end rankings and for tournaments won. Collectively the top 10 earners made $165 million, up 4 percent from last year. Prize money totaled $38 million for the group, with corporate money kicking in the remaining $127 million.

The name of the game for tennis players is leveraging strong on-court play, a winning personality and, preferably, good locks into lucrative endorsement deals. Our top earners separate themselves from the pack in their ability to secure sponsorship beyond the endemic deals that cover shoes, apparel and rackets. Only a select few can line up deals in other categories like cars, beverages, electronics and financial services.

No one has done this better than Maria Sharapova who earned $22.5 million over the past year despite, being sidelined for much of it due to a shoulder injury. She earned an estimated $22 million from sponsors – nearly on par with Federer, whose income was further boosted by prize money and appearance fees.

Sharapova made a splash on the endorsement scene after winning Wimbledon in 2004 at 17 years old. She signed 10 new endorsement contracts in the months that followed, with blue-chip companies like Canon, Colgate-Palmolive and Motorola.

Rafael Nadal grabbed the third spot on our list with earnings of $20 million during the past year from prize money and sponsors. Nadal's epic win over Federer at Wimbledon last year helped him add deals with three new sponsors, including Mapfre, Spain's largest insurer. The economic downturn definitely hurt Nadal, though, as many companies have been reluctant to commit to long-term deals over the past year. Like Federer and Sharapova, Nike provides Nadal's biggest endorsement payday.

Sponsorship spending across all sports and entertainment categories has been hurt by the pullback by auto and financial services firms, and tennis is no different. Tennis sponsorship spending will rise only 1.3 percent to $581 million in 2009, according to Chicago-based IEG, which researches sports sponsorship spending. This comes on the heels of an 8 percent gain in 2008 and 10 percent in 2007. U.S. Tennis Association officials expect sponsorships for this year's U.S. Open to be down 3 percent from last year's $55 million haul.

This comes after years of declining TV ratings for tennis, as U.S. audiences tune out the sport, largely because there are few top-ranked American players. The Williams sisters and four men, led by Andy Roddick, are the only Americans currently ranked in the top 50.

But while people might not be watching tennis, they are still playing. The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association announced that tennis participation is up 43 percent over the past eight years, making it the fastest-growing traditional participation sport by a wide margin. (The second-fastest-growing sport was racquetball at 12 percent.) These kinds of numbers will keep companies like Nike and Wilson anteing up for the top talent in the sport.

The top five:

1. Roger Federer: Slideshow
2. Maria Sharapova: Slideshow
3. Rafael Nadal: Slideshow
4. Serena Williams: Slideshow
5. Andy Roddick: Slideshow
See more players

By The Numbers: Top-earning tennis players