Novak Djokovic has missed out on a huge bonus from his lucrative 2023 season despite finishing the season as world No 1 and winning three of the four Grand Slams.
Djokovic pulled off one of the most remarkable campaigns of his illustrious career this past year as he took another step towards being regarded as the greatest of all time.
With Rafael Nadal suffering from injuries, Djokovic took full advantage with wins at the Australian Open and the French Open.
That was followed by another finals appearance at Wimbledon, losing in a five-set thriller to Carlos Alcaraz.
And the Serbian superstar won a record-tying 24th major at the US Open before securing his year-end world No 1 ranking at the ATP Finals.
His remarkable year saw Djokovic finish on top of the ATP prize money standings with reported earnings of $15.9million.
That put him just above Alcaraz, who earned $15.1m in 2023 with Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner also earning above $10m respectively.
Two of those tournaments – Indian Wells and Miami Masters – Djokovic was banned from due to the US not allowing unvaccinated foreigners to enter the country at the time.
He was also absent from the Madrid Open, Canadian Open and Shanghai Masters, playing in only four of the nine Masters 1000 tournaments.
The strict ATP rules denying Djokovic his part of the bonus payment didn’t sit well with some tennis fans, who took aim at the sport’s governing body.
One person wrote on X: “Been reported that Djokovic Masters bonus was taken off by 100 per cent as it was stated he missed 3 Masters events 2 of these he wanted to play (Indian Wells and Miami) but was banned from playing them as he was unvaccinated.
“How is the @atptour even allowed in getting away with this?”
Another mockingly said: “When they ban you, dq you and even plain rob you but you still lead the all-time prize total.”
Djokovic has admitted he wanted to play in both Miami and Indian Wells and will get the chance to do so next year.
And the 36-year-old has set his sights on another remarkable year as he plans to hit all the big events.
“It is definitely one of the major goals for next year, other than Grand Slams,” he said.
It’s going to be a very congested schedule, going from the slowest to the fastest surface in the sport, back to the slowest. Clay, grass, clay and then hard courts.”
“That’s obviously a very demanding, challenging stretch of the year and I’m going to have to speak with my team to see how we can plan out our preparations, training, so that I’m able to play my best tennis where I want to.”
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