Top 100 richest athletes named - Roger Federer tops Forbes list

TOPSHOT - Roger Federer from Switzerland poses with the trophy after he won his final match against David Goffin from Belgium at the ATP tennis tournament in Halle, western Germany, on June 23, 2019. (Photo by CARMEN JASPERSEN / AFP)

Roger Federer is now the world's highest-paid sports star, becoming the first tennis player to top the annual Forbes list.

The Swiss star raked in a huge £86.2million over the past 12 months, with £81million of that coming through endorsements.

Federer has risen four places from his ranking last year, when Lionel Messi was ranked No.1.

Messi now sits third on £84million, with Cristiano Ronaldo up to second on £85million.

"The coronavirus pandemic triggered salary cuts for soccer stars Messi and Ronaldo, clearing the way for a tennis player to rank as the world's highest-paid athlete for the first time," said Forbes' senior editor Kurt Badenhausen.

"Roger Federer is the perfect pitchman for companies, resulting in an unparalleled endorsement portfolio of blue-chip brands worth $100m a year for the tennis great."

Neymar comes fourth in the list, followed by basketball stars LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.

Soccer Football - Champions League - Group A - Paris St Germain v Galatasaray - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - December 11, 2019 Paris St Germain's Neymar reacts REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Tiger Woods and American Football stars Kirk Cousins and Carson Wentz make up the top 10, which is largely dominated by NBA and NFL players.

Boxing star Tyson Fury is the highest earning Briton after his stellar year saw him pick up a cool £46.2million.

There are four other British and Irish names in the top 20 in the form of Lewis Hamilton, Rory McIlroy, Conor McGregor and Anthony Joshua.

Tennis ace Naomi Osaka is the world's highest-earning female on the list, sitting in 29th place as she ended Serena Williams' (33rd) four-year stint as the world's best paid sportswoman.

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah is the highest-earning Premier League footballer thanks to his range of endorsement deals.

Premier League - Liverpool v Southampton - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - February 1, 2020 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their fourth goal [REUTERS/Phil Noble]

The Egyptian sits 34th on the list as Mesut Ozil, Paul Pogba, David de Gea and Alexis Sanchez also make the top 100.

See the full list

 - 1 Roger Federer

 - 2 Cristiano Ronaldo

 - 3 Lionel Messi

 - 4 Neymar

 - 5 LeBron James

 - 6 Stephen Curry

 - 7 Kevin Durant

 - 8 Tiger Woods

 - 9 Kirk Cousins

 - 10 Carson Wentz

 - 11 Tyson Fury

 - 12 Russell Westbrook

 - 13 Lewis Hamilton

 - 14 Rory McIlroy

 - 15 Jared Goff

 - 16 Conor McGregor

 - 17 James Harden

 - 18 Giannis Antetokounmpo

 - 19 Anthony Joshua

 - 20 Deontay Wilder

 - 21 Tom Brady

 - 22 Drew Brees

 - 23 Novak Djokovic

 - 24 Kyrie Irving

 - 25 Phil Mickelson

 - 26 Julio Jones

 - 27 Rafael Nadal

 - 28 Klay Thompson

 - 29 Naomi Osaka

 - 30 Canelo Alvarez

 - 30 Damian Lillard

 - 32 Sebastian Vettel

 - 33 Serena Williams

 - 34 Mohamed Salah

 - 35 Chris Paul

 - 36 Kylian Mbappe

 - 37 Grady Jarrett

 - 38 Paul George

 - 39 Michael Thomas

 - 40 Kei Nishikori

 - 41 Blake Griffin

 - 42 John Wall

 - 43 Kawhi Leonard

 - 44 Anthony Davis

 - 45 Aaron Rodgers

 - 46 Andres Iniesta

 - 47 Matt Ryan

 - 48 Daniel Ricciardo

 - 49 Mesut Ozil

 - 50 Kyle Lowry

 - 50 Paul Pogba

 - 52 Jimmy Butler

 - 52 Gordon Hayward

 - 52 Jordan Spieth

 - 52 Kemba Walker

 - 56 Oscar

 - 57 Clayton Kershaw

 - 57 Zion Williamson

 - 59 Arik Armstead

 - 60 Joel Embliid

 - 60 Antoine Griezmann

 - 62 Devin Booker

 - 63 Christian McCaffrey

 - 63 D'Angelo Russell

 - 65 Darius Slay

 - 66 Virat Kohli

 - 67 David De Gea

 - 67 Kevin Love

 - 69 Alexis Sánchez

 - 70 Ryan Tannehill

 - 71 Mike Conley, Jr.

 - 71 Tobias Harris

 - 73 Gareth Bale

 - 74 Bobby Wagner

 - 75 Amari Cooper

 - 76 DeMar DeRozan

 - 77 Robert Quinn

 - 78 Kristaps Porzingis

 - 79 Al Horford

 - 80 Trae Waynes

 - 81 Dante Fowler, Jr.

 - 82 Khris Middleton

 - 83 Marcus Mariota

 - 84 C.J. McCollum

 - 85 Nick Bosa

 - 85 Shaq Thompson

 - 87 Karl-Anthony Towns

 - 88 Philip Rivers

 - 89 Ezekiel Elliott

 - 89 Paul Millsap

 - 91 Ben Roethlisberger

 - 92 Andrus Peat

 - 93 Andre Drummond

 - 94 D.J. Reader

 - 94 Quinnen Williams

 - 96 Bradley Beal

 - 97 Cam Newton

 - 98 Calais Campbell

 - 99 Derek Carr

 - 100 Sergio Ramos