For the first time ever, more women than men make up tennis’ top-10 highest-paid players over the past 12 months, according to Forbes.

The sport’s leading earners collected a combined $333m (£245m) over the period, which is 17% higher than the $285m (£210m recorded in 2025) and only slightly below the $343m (£252.5m) total from 2020.

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz remain the financial heavyweights despite both missing key Grand Slam events in 2026. Sinner is absent from the 2026 US Open, while Alcaraz was injured for the French Open and Wimbledon, yet the two still sit at the top of the earnings table.

Serena Williams, now 44 and away from the sport for nearly four years, is still in the top three thanks largely to her commercial portfolio. She is listed ahead of Novak Djokovic, with off-court income continuing to drive her position on the ranking.

World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka and two-time Grand Slam winner Coco Gauff complete the top five. Gauff’s value away from the court remains especially strong.

Serena’s wider financial profile remains striking. Forbes reports her net worth at $400m (£295m), making her the world’s richest woman to have built her fortune primarily as an athlete. She has been with Nike for 23 years and also has deals with Heineken, Factor, and Ro, where she became the face of a campaign focused on GLP-1 weight loss medications.

That commercial strength helps explain why she leads all players in off-court earnings at $40m (£29.5m). Alcaraz follows on $38m (£28m), with Sinner next on $35m (£26m).

At the other end of the scale, Elena Rybakina and Alexander Zverev post more modest off-court figures of $6m (£4.4m) and $5m (£3.7m). Qinwen Zheng also stands out for endorsement income despite dropping outside the world’s top 100 after elbow surgery just over a year ago.

Naomi Osaka does not appear in the list, while Alex Eala, although highly marketable, is still some way from breaking through into this group. The 21-year-old is nearing $2m in on-court prize money this year, but remains outside the top 10 for now.

A strong group of ATP players has reached the same conclusion: Rafael Jodar is the leading young name in men’s tennis right now.

The Spaniard started the 2025 season at No. 895 while still at the University of Virginia. By the close of the year, the 19-year-old had climbed to No. 168, decided to turn professional, and set off on an even steeper rise in 2026.

That progress has been extraordinary. Earlier this month, Jodar moved to a career-high of No. 11, and he remains in position to challenge Boris Becker’s record for the fastest climb from the top 100 into the top 10.

His form has also placed him ninth in the ATP Tour Race, with a place at the ATP Finals in Turin later this year looking increasingly plausible. Among players 21 and under, only Learner Tien, Jakub Mensik, and Joao Fonseca are anywhere near him in the NextGen conversation.

With the US Open approaching, Jodar is aiming for another deep run after reaching the French Open quarter-finals earlier this year. Several established players have already pointed to him as the breakout candidate for Flushing Meadows.

Matteo Berrettini told ATP Tour, “I feel like there are so many young guys that are so good already; they are stars already.

“The first name that comes to mind is Jodar. He’s top 20 in the world. So he’s not really a rising star; he is a star already.”

Alex De Minaur also selected Jodar, while Casper Ruud named the Spaniard or Tien. Karen Khachanov added, “Jodar. I think everybody’s now speaking about him. Really fast development and progress over the last four, five months.”

The praise has not stopped there. Toni said, “I am liking Rafael Jodar a lot because of what I have seen. It seems to me that it is the best of the new generation,” and later added that he does not see him in the same class as Carlos Alcaraz, but believes he can trouble the best players in the world.

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic have been placed on the same side of the 2026 US Open draw, and both begin with testing opening rounds in New York.

Alcaraz returns to competitive singles for the first time since sustaining a wrist injury at the Barcelona Open in mid-April, with the Spaniard back at Flushing Meadows as the defending champion. His opening opponent is Roman Safiullin, a player who holds a 1-1 head-to-head record with the 23-year-old.

With world No 1 Jannik Sinner absent because of a knee injury, French Open Alexander Zverev is the top seed. Alcaraz, the second seed, sits in the opposite half, while Felix Auger-Aliassime is seeded third in Zverev’s section. Djokovic, meanwhile, could again meet Alcaraz in the semi-finals, just as he did last year.

The top names also face difficult early tests. Zverev opens against Lorenzo Sonego, Auger-Aliassime starts against Rinky Hijikata, and Djokovic meets Mariano Navone, who is ranked 49th at the time of writing after being listed as the former world No 29.

There are several other notable first-round matches. Stan Wawrinka, who is soon to retire, faces Matteo Berrettini, and the winner could run into Djokovic in round two. Marin Cilic begins against 23rd seed Andrey Rublev, Arthur Fils meets Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Rafael Jodar opens against Thanasi Kokkinakis.

The projected paths also underline how open the draw may be. Djokovic’s possible route includes Stan Wawrinka, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Brandon Nakashima and Daniil Medvedev before a semi-final with Alcaraz and a final against Zverev. Alcaraz’s projected path features Jenson Brooksby, Matteo Arnaldi, Alexander Bublik and Arthur Fils before that potential meeting with Djokovic.

Zverev’s and Auger-Aliassime’s possible routes also point toward difficult finishes, with Alex De Minaur appearing in both halves of their projected paths.