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TENNIS · 38 CAREERS

Tennis prize money in the 1980s

$93,981,194 won by the 38 careers centred on the 1980s, Stefan Edberg ahead of them on $20,396,713.

A career is filed on its midpoint, so this is the generation whose best years fell between 1980 and 1989 rather than everybody who happened to play a match in those seasons. The figures are whole careers, including what these players won before the decade opened and after it closed.

WON IN ALL $94.0m
RICHEST CAREER $20.4m
AVERAGE CAREER $2.5m
PAST $10M 2
FROM THE MAJORS 19.4%

The twenty richest careers of the 1980s

Career prize money, for players centred on the decade

38 careers

Stefan Edberg $20m Ivan Lendl $16m Mats Wilander $6.1m Jakob Hlasek $5.9m Jimmy Connors $3.6m Henri Leconte $3.5m Wally Masur $3.0m John Fitzgerald $2.7m Jonas Svensson $2.4m Amos Mansdorf $2.3m Kevin Curren $2.0m Scott Davis $2.0m Sergio Casal $2.0m Martin Jaite $1.8m Luiz Mattar $1.5m Todd Witsken $1.4m Danie Visser $1.4m Jeremy Bates $1.3m Christian Bergstrom $1.3m Horacio de la Pena $1.2m

Whole careers rather than what these players won inside the decade, which is the only way the chart compares like with like: a player peaks once, and cutting his earnings at a decade boundary would rank him on where the calendar fell rather than on how good he was.

Every career centred on the 1980s

Ranked by career prize money

38 players

# Player Career Titles W-L From majors Prize money
001 Stefan Edberg Sweden 1982 to 1996 63 1193-428 19.1% $20,396,713$20.4m
002 Ivan Lendl United States 1978 to 1994 102 1345-388 18.9% $15,712,899$15.7m
003 Mats Wilander Sweden 1980 to 1996 42 812-362 27.4% $6,064,963$6.1m
004 Jakob Hlasek Switzerland 1982 to 1996 29 886-620 15.8% $5,890,993$5.9m
005 Jimmy Connors United States 1969 to 1996 126 1564-393 22.8% $3,610,778$3.6m
006 Henri Leconte France 1980 to 1997 23 641-442 23.4% $3,508,772$3.5m
007 Wally Masur Australia 1980 to 1995 23 706-522 22.9% $2,961,103$3.0m
008 John Fitzgerald Australia 1979 to 1997 42 856-544 26.9% $2,693,859$2.7m
009 Jonas Svensson Sweden 1978 to 1995 11 394-328 18.1% $2,428,504$2.4m
010 Amos Mansdorf Israel 1981 to 1994 8 401-332 14.8% $2,346,198$2.3m
011 Kevin Curren United States 1978 to 1993 37 914-521 15.5% $2,026,269$2.0m
012 Scott Davis United States 1977 to 1998 26 665-508 19.7% $2,019,776$2.0m
013 Sergio Casal Spain 1981 to 1997 55 775-447 15.6% $2,019,476$2.0m
014 Martin Jaite Argentina 1981 to 1993 15 440-293 9.6% $1,823,667$1.8m
015 Luiz Mattar Brazil 1982 to 1995 26 491-385 14.0% $1,481,901$1.5m
016 Todd Witsken United States 1981 to 1994 15 429-315 18.8% $1,396,854$1.4m
017 Danie Visser South Africa 1981 to 1996 21 558-446 28.1% $1,385,969$1.4m
018 Jeremy Bates Great Britain 1980 to 1996 15 473-475 27.1% $1,304,181
019 Christian Bergstrom Sweden 1979 to 1996 2 215-207 28.5% $1,257,692
020 Horacio de la Pena Argentina 1983 to 1994 18 372-330 11.9% $1,203,541
021 Johan Kriek United States 1977 to 1999 23 663-419 19.0% $1,038,858
022 Michiel Schapers Netherlands 1981 to 1996 11 452-437 23.2% $1,038,754
023 Jimmy Arias United States 1980 to 1998 7 435-375 12.6% $1,023,659
024 Jay Berger United States 1985 to 1991 5 196-113 16.9% $992,136
025 Ramesh Krishnan India 1973 to 1993 13 416-387 16.5% $958,679
026 Kelly Evernden New Zealand 1980 to 1996 8 342-335 19.7% $890,885
027 Simon Youl Australia 1982 to 1995 17 378-387 26.8% $885,285
028 Diego Perez Uruguay 1979 to 1995 11 489-502 17.2% $883,621
029 Claudio Mezzadri Switzerland 1983 to 1993 10 302-298 7.1% $776,910
030 Cassio Motta Brazil 1978 to 1994 27 609-481 18.2% $713,965
031 Gilad Bloom Israel 1983 to 1995 18 314-321 21.5% $688,896
032 Marty Davis United States 1978 to 1991 11 390-379 16.8% $591,364
033 Eliot Teltscher United States 1976 to 1990 17 626-394 8.4% $507,657
034 Thomas Hogstedt Sweden 1979 to 1995 2 146-219 11.2% $482,895
035 Jimmy Brown United States 1981 to 1992 4 225-236 13.6% $396,550
036 Bjorn Borg Sweden 1971 to 1993 70 792-242 0.0% $348,545
037 Mark Dickson United States 1980 to 1988 9 337-270 6.6% $224,107
038 Van Winitsky United States 1975 to 1996 13 288-268 0.0% $4,320

23 of these 38 careers passed a million dollars and 2 passed ten million. Between them they won 975 titles and 21,530 matches against 14,349 defeats.

What the tour paid out, 1980 to 1989

Every season inside the decade, all players added together

$92,061,741 in all

This is money paid in the decade rather than money won by the decade's players, and the two are deliberately different figures: a career filed here was also being paid in the ten years before it and the ten after. Season by season is the one view with no judgement in it at all.

The eras side by side

Every decade with ten or more careers centred on it

5 eras

Era Careers Average career From the majors Won in all
The 1980s 38 $2,473,189 19.4% $93,981,194$94.0m
The 1990s 118 $4,985,636 20.0% $588,305,104$588.3m
The 2000s 106 $6,195,399 28.3% $656,712,251$656.7m
The 2010s 267 $8,570,493 39.9% $2,288,321,574$2.29bn
The 2020s 149 $5,769,985 37.8% $859,727,721$859.7m

The gap between the eras is money rather than merit, and the share column has a page of its own: the four majors paid a fifth of a 1980s career and pay two fifths of a current one, so a modern player earns more for the same result and earns it in a different place.

Which countries the 1980s money went to

Careers centred on the decade, grouped by flag

15 countries

# Country Careers Titles Share Prize money
01 Sweden 6 190 33.0% $30,979,312$31.0m
02 United States 13 395 31.4% $29,545,227$29.5m
03 Switzerland 2 39 7.1% $6,667,903$6.7m
04 Australia 3 82 7.0% $6,540,247$6.5m
05 France 1 23 3.7% $3,508,772$3.5m
06 Israel 2 26 3.2% $3,035,094$3.0m
07 Argentina 2 33 3.2% $3,027,208$3.0m
08 Brazil 2 53 2.3% $2,195,866$2.2m
09 Spain 1 55 2.1% $2,019,476$2.0m
10 South Africa 1 21 1.5% $1,385,969$1.4m
11 Great Britain 1 15 1.4% $1,304,181
12 Netherlands 1 11 1.1% $1,038,754
13 India 1 13 1.0% $958,679
14 New Zealand 1 8 0.9% $890,885
15 Uruguay 1 11 0.9% $883,621

Frequently asked questions

Who earned the most tennis prize money in the 1980s?

Stefan Edberg, $20,396,713 across a career running 1982 to 1996, with 63 titles.

How much did a 1980s tennis career pay?

$2,473,189 on average, across the 38 careers centred on the decade. 23 of them passed a million dollars and 2 passed ten million.

What share of 1980s prize money came from the grand slams?

19.4% of it, against 37.8% for careers centred on the 2020s.

How is a player filed under the 1980s?

On the midpoint of the career rather than its first season. A player who began in 1978 and finished in 1995 belongs to this decade in every way a reader means it, and filing on the first season would put him beside players who had retired before he won anything.

How much did tennis pay out during the 1980s?

$92,061,741 across the 9 seasons from 1980 to 1989. That is the money paid in those years, which is a different figure from the $93,981,194 these careers won in total: a player filed here was paid in the decade before it and the one after it too.

Where to next

The eras either side, the seasons inside this one, and the careers that made it

Tennis money in the 1990s

By era

Seasons in the 1980s

The 1980s top sixty

Every season

Elsewhere in tennis