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TENNIS · 118 CAREERS

Tennis prize money in the 1990s

$588,305,104 won by the 118 careers centred on the 1990s, Pete Sampras ahead of them on $43,280,489.

A career is filed on its midpoint, so this is the generation whose best years fell between 1990 and 1999 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 $588.3m
RICHEST CAREER $43.3m
AVERAGE CAREER $5.0m
PAST $10M 16
FROM THE MAJORS 20.0%

The twenty richest careers of the 1990s

Career prize money, for players centred on the decade

118 careers

Pete Sampras $43m Andre Agassi $31m Boris Becker $25m Yevgeny Kafelnikov $24m Goran Ivanisevic $20m Michael Chang $19m Jim Courier $14m Michael Stich $13m Thomas Muster $12m Sergi Bruguera $12m Thomas Enqvist $10m Petr Korda $10m Alex Corretja $10m Richard Krajicek $10m Todd Woodbridge $10m Fabrice Santoro $10m Wayne Ferreira $10.0m Marcelo Rios $9.7m Greg Rusedski $8.9m Mark Woodforde $8.6m

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 1990s

Ranked by career prize money

118 players

# Player Career Titles W-L From majors Prize money
001 Pete Sampras United States 1988 to 2002 67 937-307 25.2% $43,280,489$43.3m
002 Andre Agassi United States 1986 to 2006 62 1035-327 32.1% $31,151,014$31.2m
003 Boris Becker Germany 1983 to 2001 67 1071-372 15.1% $25,045,198$25.0m
004 Yevgeny Kafelnikov Russia 1992 to 2003 57 1115-545 16.4% $23,883,797$23.9m
005 Goran Ivanisevic Croatia 1987 to 2011 35 984-577 15.9% $19,878,007$19.9m
006 Michael Chang United States 1987 to 2003 37 786-361 13.8% $19,145,632$19.1m
007 Jim Courier United States 1987 to 2005 30 708-342 24.2% $14,034,132$14.0m
008 Michael Stich Germany 1986 to 2009 36 643-307 17.1% $12,595,128$12.6m
009 Thomas Muster Austria 1984 to 2011 50 804-424 13.4% $12,263,680$12.3m
010 Sergi Bruguera Spain 1988 to 2002 21 590-349 17.0% $11,632,199$11.6m
011 Thomas Enqvist Sweden 1989 to 2005 20 575-382 12.2% $10,461,641$10.5m
012 Petr Korda Czechia 1985 to 2005 24 752-454 15.1% $10,448,900$10.4m
013 Alex Corretja Spain 1990 to 2005 20 635-443 16.3% $10,411,354$10.4m
014 Richard Krajicek Netherlands 1980 to 2003 22 572-299 21.2% $10,077,425$10.1m
015 Todd Woodbridge Australia 1986 to 2005 97 1254-536 36.3% $10,066,820$10.1m
016 Fabrice Santoro France 1988 to 2010 41 1072-823 24.5% $10,013,830$10.0m
017 Wayne Ferreira South Africa 1988 to 2005 27 942-585 19.2% $9,969,617$10.0m
018 Marcelo Rios Chile 1992 to 2004 21 511-282 10.9% $9,713,771$9.7m
019 Greg Rusedski Great Britain 1989 to 2007 19 578-391 15.7% $8,944,841$8.9m
020 Mark Woodforde Australia 1983 to 2000 74 1120-589 31.5% $8,551,305$8.6m
021 Todd Martin United States 1989 to 2004 15 588-339 29.0% $8,232,355$8.2m
022 Cedric Pioline France 1988 to 2002 7 500-405 28.0% $6,921,029$6.9m
023 Marc Rosset Switzerland 1988 to 2005 30 708-583 16.1% $6,812,693$6.8m
024 John McEnroe United States 1974 to 2006 156 1515-308 18.2% $6,088,680$6.1m
025 Magnus Larsson Sweden 1988 to 2003 22 474-332 18.0% $5,839,451$5.8m
026 Guy Forget France 1982 to 2000 40 820-480 16.6% $5,577,433$5.6m
027 Emilio Sanchez Spain 1982 to 1998 72 1165-637 13.9% $5,295,070$5.3m
028 David Wheaton United States 1986 to 2001 8 456-355 16.1% $5,238,401$5.2m
029 Brad Gilbert United States 1981 to 1998 24 689-422 7.6% $5,179,042$5.2m
030 Byron Black Zimbabwe 1989 to 2002 33 752-502 22.7% $5,159,775$5.2m
031 Karol Kucera Slovakia 1991 to 2005 15 465-370 18.4% $5,061,125$5.1m
032 Daniel Vacek Czechia 1989 to 2003 30 644-552 22.1% $4,803,388$4.8m
033 Anders Jarryd Sweden 1980 to 2006 73 1142-531 21.6% $4,754,390$4.8m
034 Alberto Berasategui Spain 1990 to 2001 23 466-340 13.2% $4,676,187$4.7m
035 Magnus Gustafsson Sweden 1986 to 2001 20 550-361 12.6% $4,545,489$4.5m
036 Magnus Norman Sweden 1992 to 2003 15 321-260 19.8% $4,537,247$4.5m
037 Javier Sanchez Spain 1985 to 2000 40 891-719 15.0% $4,427,811$4.4m
038 Richey Reneberg United States 1984 to 2000 26 715-516 20.2% $4,394,642$4.4m
039 Jan Siemerink Netherlands 1989 to 2002 24 596-520 18.3% $4,347,693$4.3m
040 Francisco Clavet Spain 1988 to 2009 12 577-514 16.3% $4,271,881$4.3m
041 David Prinosil Germany 1990 to 2004 23 556-523 20.4% $4,016,496$4.0m
042 Sandon Stolle Australia 1989 to 2003 30 664-444 23.4% $3,758,442$3.8m
043 Jeff Tarango United States 1987 to 2010 24 630-613 21.0% $3,730,289$3.7m
044 Karel Novacek Czechia 1984 to 2001 24 575-469 18.9% $3,617,504$3.6m
045 Hicham Arazi Morocco 1991 to 2007 4 351-354 27.9% $3,602,644$3.6m
046 Alex O'Brien United States 1989 to 2003 23 541-403 23.3% $3,526,390$3.5m
047 Aaron Krickstein United States 1983 to 1996 9 461-281 18.5% $3,518,490$3.5m
048 Alexander Volkov Russia 1968 to 2017 6 381-321 20.1% $3,358,950$3.4m
049 Andres Gomez Ecuador 1977 to 2004 54 1014-492 21.1% $3,323,231$3.3m
050 Jason Stoltenberg Australia 1986 to 2001 16 503-419 26.3% $3,259,607$3.3m
051 Jim Grabb United States 1984 to 2000 28 664-455 22.8% $3,235,170$3.2m
052 MaliVai Washington United States 1988 to 1999 5 328-250 23.2% $3,232,565$3.2m
053 Jonathan Stark United States 1988 to 2002 26 535-376 21.4% $3,220,867$3.2m
054 Nicolas Escude France 1992 to 2004 7 270-225 25.4% $3,216,150$3.2m
055 Andrei Olhovskiy Russia 1983 to 2005 31 651-558 20.7% $3,208,070$3.2m
056 Nicklas Kulti Sweden 1988 to 2001 22 485-371 24.0% $3,186,946$3.2m
057 Tomas Carbonell Spain 1986 to 2001 35 687-597 15.9% $3,157,584$3.2m
058 Carlos Costa Spain 1988 to 1999 24 467-366 12.7% $3,134,189$3.1m
059 Patrick McEnroe United States 1984 to 1998 19 513-365 21.1% $3,107,816$3.1m
060 Andrei Chesnokov Russia 1983 to 2000 11 445-314 16.9% $3,084,188$3.1m
061 Andrea Gaudenzi Italy 1990 to 2003 15 461-453 14.1% $3,063,479$3.1m
062 Arnaud Boetsch France 1987 to 1999 5 375-352 18.9% $3,031,247$3.0m
063 Kenneth Carlsen Denmark 1989 to 2007 6 469-464 22.4% $2,990,980$3.0m
064 Sebastien Lareau Canada 1989 to 2002 30 524-360 26.8% $2,879,682$2.9m
065 Olivier Delaitre France 1981 to 2000 26 516-471 17.7% $2,788,478$2.8m
066 Richard Fromberg Australia 1986 to 2005 19 442-410 21.7% $2,605,740$2.6m
067 Taylor Dent United States 1971 to 2010 10 279-246 29.6% $2,563,379$2.6m
068 Fernando Meligeni Brazil 1989 to 2003 20 496-448 26.2% $2,555,367$2.6m
069 Franco Squillari Argentina 1993 to 2005 8 289-256 19.1% $2,504,591$2.5m
070 Slava Dosedel Czechia 1988 to 2001 12 381-361 21.2% $2,452,512$2.5m
071 Renzo Furlan Italy 1988 to 2004 7 434-458 16.0% $2,449,043$2.4m
072 Guillaume Raoux France 1988 to 2000 15 371-377 22.2% $2,446,506$2.4m
073 Brett Steven New Zealand 1986 to 1999 12 449-339 21.4% $2,439,714$2.4m
074 Carl-Uwe Steeb Germany 1986 to 1996 7 347-336 12.5% $2,320,082$2.3m
075 Gianluca Pozzi Italy 1982 to 2008 16 521-566 21.1% $2,272,035$2.3m
076 Jaime Yzaga Peru 1985 to 1997 10 375-301 17.6% $2,234,150$2.2m
077 Karim Alami Morocco 1989 to 2003 7 315-349 13.6% $2,087,596$2.1m
078 Bernd Karbacher Germany 1989 to 2000 5 240-255 21.8% $2,043,057$2.0m
079 Marcelo Filippini Uruguay 1986 to 2001 18 482-423 14.7% $2,016,190$2.0m
080 Ronald Agenor Haiti 1984 to 2012 14 488-498 13.3% $2,014,601$2.0m
081 David Pate United States 1981 to 1998 21 593-430 18.1% $1,926,369$1.9m
082 Christo Van Rensburg South Africa 1982 to 2001 35 595-421 18.4% $1,866,643$1.9m
083 Jordi Arrese Spain 1983 to 2008 19 488-429 7.8% $1,834,662$1.8m
084 Diego Nargiso Italy 1987 to 2001 15 550-560 15.0% $1,807,857$1.8m
085 Henrik Holm Sweden 1986 to 1997 19 374-307 15.1% $1,693,931$1.7m
086 Guillermo Perez-Roldan Argentina 1986 to 2006 14 366-216 7.5% $1,686,459$1.7m
087 Stefano Pescosolido Italy 1988 to 2006 23 532-511 15.2% $1,657,671$1.7m
088 Horst Skoff Austria 1985 to 1999 18 422-324 7.2% $1,651,858$1.7m
089 Patrik Kuhnen Germany 1985 to 2006 7 322-353 19.2% $1,643,108$1.6m
090 Javier Frana Argentina 1986 to 1997 25 527-383 31.5% $1,641,848$1.6m
091 Derrick Rostagno United States 1983 to 1996 4 283-257 22.2% $1,611,335$1.6m
092 Omar Camporese Italy 1986 to 2011 17 446-454 12.5% $1,610,475$1.6m
093 Pat Cash Australia 1981 to 2006 21 472-291 38.3% $1,605,836$1.6m
094 Scott Draper Australia 1992 to 2005 8 206-225 36.5% $1,594,598$1.6m
095 Paul Annacone United States 1982 to 1999 21 495-329 18.4% $1,582,646$1.6m
096 Alberto Mancini Argentina 1987 to 1996 10 260-191 10.8% $1,535,520$1.5m
097 Filip Dewulf Belgium 1990 to 2001 11 289-307 25.3% $1,503,987$1.5m
098 Gary Muller South Africa 1983 to 1997 12 420-389 18.9% $1,441,655$1.4m
099 Christian Ruud Norway 1988 to 2001 13 275-236 21.9% $1,399,813$1.4m
100 Hendrik Dreekmann Germany 1991 to 2006 4 178-200 23.9% $1,366,435$1.4m
101 Libor Pimek Belgium 1981 to 1999 25 570-568 11.7% $1,362,277$1.4m
102 Mikael Pernfors Sweden 1982 to 1998 10 259-197 18.7% $1,353,177$1.4m
103 Jean-Philippe Fleurian France 1985 to 1998 20 435-403 28.2% $1,352,977$1.4m
104 Andrew Ilie Australia 1993 to 2003 8 181-218 26.2% $1,327,838
105 Gilbert Schaller Austria 1986 to 2002 10 308-300 11.7% $1,317,163
106 Grant Stafford South Africa 1988 to 2001 14 350-337 26.1% $1,307,208
107 Goran Prpic Croatia 1983 to 2009 8 237-211 15.5% $1,303,354
108 Hernan Gumy Argentina 1990 to 2001 7 265-275 22.3% $1,226,776
109 Bryan Shelton United States 1989 to 1997 12 355-382 23.9% $1,220,283
110 Jordi Burillo Spain 1990 to 2006 9 242-286 13.4% $1,198,126
111 Peter Lundgren Sweden 1983 to 1996 9 287-307 16.0% $1,125,079
112 Shuzo Matsuoka Japan 1985 to 1998 6 261-259 23.1% $1,115,613
113 Franco Davin Argentina 1985 to 1997 8 270-267 12.5% $1,101,560
114 Nicolas Pereira Venezuela 1987 to 2004 18 401-399 21.4% $1,077,159
115 Alex Antonitsch Austria 1984 to 1996 10 394-402 16.3% $1,023,913
116 Paolo Cane Italy 1983 to 2008 13 324-304 6.4% $893,102
117 Lars Jonsson Sweden 1987 to 2006 3 204-265 22.6% $888,998
118 Pablo Arraya Peru 1980 to 1999 8 425-419 8.3% $461,216

115 of these 118 careers passed a million dollars and 16 passed ten million. Between them they won 2,710 titles and 63,554 matches against 46,272 defeats.

What the tour paid out, 1990 to 1999

Every season inside the decade, all players added together

$618,605,551 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 1990s money went to

Careers centred on the decade, grouped by flag

32 countries

# Country Careers Titles Share Prize money
01 United States 21 627 28.8% $169,219,986$169.2m
02 Spain 10 275 8.5% $50,039,063$50.0m
03 Germany 7 149 8.3% $49,029,504$49.0m
04 Sweden 10 213 6.5% $38,386,349$38.4m
05 France 8 161 6.0% $35,347,650$35.3m
06 Russia 4 105 5.7% $33,535,005$33.5m
07 Australia 8 273 5.6% $32,770,186$32.8m
08 Czechia 4 90 3.6% $21,322,304$21.3m
09 Croatia 2 43 3.6% $21,181,361$21.2m
10 Austria 4 88 2.8% $16,256,614$16.3m
11 South Africa 4 88 2.5% $14,585,123$14.6m
12 Netherlands 2 46 2.5% $14,425,118$14.4m
13 Italy 7 106 2.3% $13,753,662$13.8m
14 Chile 1 21 1.7% $9,713,771$9.7m
15 Argentina 6 72 1.6% $9,696,754$9.7m
16 Great Britain 1 19 1.5% $8,944,841$8.9m
17 Switzerland 1 30 1.2% $6,812,693$6.8m
18 Morocco 2 11 1.0% $5,690,240$5.7m
19 Zimbabwe 1 33 0.9% $5,159,775$5.2m
20 Slovakia 1 15 0.9% $5,061,125$5.1m

Frequently asked questions

Who earned the most tennis prize money in the 1990s?

Pete Sampras, $43,280,489 across a career running 1988 to 2002, with 67 titles.

How much did a 1990s tennis career pay?

$4,985,636 on average, across the 118 careers centred on the decade. 115 of them passed a million dollars and 16 passed ten million.

What share of 1990s prize money came from the grand slams?

20.0% of it, against 37.8% for careers centred on the 2020s.

How is a player filed under the 1990s?

On the midpoint of the career rather than its first season. A player who began in 1988 and finished in 2005 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 1990s?

$618,605,551 across the 10 seasons from 1990 to 1999. That is the money paid in those years, which is a different figure from the $588,305,104 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 1980s · Tennis money in the 2000s

By era

Seasons in the 1990s

The 1990s top sixty

Every season

Elsewhere in tennis