Which tennis players have earned the most per minute on court in 2026? Check out our study to find out.
Alexander Zverev lifting his maiden major tournament at Roland Garros in June signalled the end of the clay court season and the start of the grass court swing.
But with two majors and multiple ATP Masters 1000 events already played, a hefty amount of prize money has already been paid out in 2026. This got the team at tennis betting site Betway thinking, how much have the biggest names in the sport been paid per minute on the court so far this year?
To find out, we analysed data from Tennis Abstract and prize money figures from official ATP & WTA sites.
The data found that world number one Jannik Sinner has earned a staggering $1,611 per minute on court. Despite a disappointing time in Paris, Sinner has won all five Masters 1000 tournaments this year and has racked up a total of $6,853,344.
Sinner’s fellow Italian players Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Arnaldi were also ranked in the top 10 following impressive showings at Roland Garros.
Trailing Sinner in second is Australian Open champion Carlos Alcaraz who has earned $1,436 per minute. This figure could have been even higher if Alcaraz was fit to defend his crown in Paris.
When looking at Zverev, the German was the only other male player to earn over a thousand dollars per minute this year ($1,149). Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic rounded off the top four.
Ben Shelton was the only American to make the top 10 earners per minute and Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime ranked 12th, earning $500 for every minute he has played in 2026.
Tennis’ top 10 highest male earners per second in 2026 can be seen below.
Rank | Player | Court time (minutes) | Prize Money ($) | Money earned per minute ($) |
1 | Jannik Sinner | 4,255 | $6,853,344 | $1,611 |
2 | Carlos Alcaraz | 3,039 | $4,365,354 | $1,436 |
3 | Alexander Zverev | 5,521 | $6,344,797 | $1,149 |
4 | Novak Djokovic | 2,210 | $1,795,761 | $813 |
5 | Flavio Cobolli | 4,221 | $3,144,274 | $745 |
6 | Arthur Fils | 2,732 | $1,890,662 | $692 |
7 | Daniil Medvedev | 3,589 | $2,403,071 | $670 |
8 | Alex de Minaur | 3,604 | $2,220,821 | $616 |
9 | Ben Shelton | 3,578 | $1,995,052 | $558 |
10 | Matteo Arnaldi | 2,113 | $1,172,200 | $555 |
When looking at the lady’s game, it was a similar story as the world number one came out on top. Aryna Sabalenka’s prize money of $4,615,986 and 3,322 minutes spent on court means she has earned an impressive $1,390 for every minute played.
Like Zverev, Mirra Andreeva won a first major at this year’s French Open and according to the data, Andreeva has earned $1,176 per minute. A figure only bettered by Sabalenka.
Elena Rybakina and Maja Chwalinska were the other ladies to earn over a thousand dollars per minute in this calendar year. Chwalinska’s minutes played of 1,690 was among the lowest out of players involved in this study, and an impressive Roland Garros significantly boosted her prize money total.
America is well represented in the top 10 with Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova making the cut. Canada’s Victoria Mboko, who played doubles with the returning Serena Williams, ranks 17th.
The top 10 highest earning female players per minute can be found below.
Rank | Player | Court time (minutes) | Prize Money ($) | Money earned per minute ($) |
1 | Aryna Sabalenka | 3,322 | $4,615,986 | $1,390 |
2 | Mirra Andreeva | 4,587 | $5,393,301 | $1,176 |
3 | Elena Rybakina | 3,927 | $4,361,140 | $1,111 |
4 | Maja Chwalinska | 1,690 | $1,747,849 | $1,034 |
5 | Marta Kostyuk | 2,509 | $2,269,048 | $904 |
6 | Elina Svitolina | 4,000 | $3,372,253 | $843 |
7 | Jessica Pegula | 3,309 | $2,702,934 | $817 |
8 | Coco Gauff | 4,007 | $2,881,549 | $719 |
9 | Iga Swiatek | 3,130 | $1,980,214 | $633 |
10 | Amanda Anisimova | 1,852 | $1,134,115 | $612 |
So, there are the highest earning top tennis players when looking at prize money earned per minute. However, with two majors and many other big tournaments left to play for, there’s a lot more money up for grabs. To monitor the latest tennis odds throughout the season, please head over to our tennis page!
Methodology
We sourced the top male and female tennis players in 2026 and looked at the following datapoints.
Minutes spent on court in 2026
Prize money won in 2026
Each player’s prize money was then divided by the minutes spent on court to identify how much they have earned per minute.
Tennis Abstract was used to source match duration data. All tour-level singles matches were looked at for each player.
Official ATP and WTA websites were used to source prize money data. Only prize money earned through singles matches was taken into consideration.
Data correct as of the conclusion of Roland Garros (Monday 8th June 2026).
