Federer poised to become 1st billionaire in tennis

Roger Federer could soon join Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the billionaire athletes club.

Figures published by Forbes show Federer is approaching $900 million in career earnings on and off the court, and he has more than $200 million beyond that committed by sponsors, according to Kamakshi Tandon of Tennis.com. That puts him on track to become the first official billionaire in tennis (though former player Ion Tiriac reached the mark in retirement).

The 20-time Grand Slam champion ranked No. 5 on Forbes' 2019 list of the highest-paid athletes in the world with estimated annual earnings of $93.4 million, $86 million of which came from endorsement deals.

Woods became the first athlete to earn $1 billion in 2009. Jordan and Mayweather reached billionaire status in 2015 and 2017, respectively.