Australian Open final 2016: Andy Murray misses out on $2.4m prize money as Novak Djokovic career earnings rise to $96.6m
Andy Murray missed out on AUS$3.4m (£1.7m) in prize money after suffering a fifth Australian Open final loss with a straight sets defeat to Novak Djokovic.
No player has ever lost five times in the final of a grand slam without winning it before – but at least Murray can console himself with a runners up prize worth $1.2m that takes his career prize money haul to $43.6m.
Djokovic's 6-1 7-5 7-6 victory was his record-equalling sixth Australian Open singles title, tying him with Roy Emerson and earning him the tournament's biggest ever prize of AUS$3.4m/$2.4m which boosts his total prize money earnings to $96.6m – less than $1m behind tennis' highest earner of all time, Roger Federer.
Read more: Almost £2m in prize money on offer at Australian Open
Both men significantly add to their income with lucrative endorsement deals – Murray's four-year kit deal with Under Armour is thought to be worth £15m while Djokovic earns a significant sum from various endorsements with Uniqlo, ANZ, Jacob's Creek, Peugeot and Seiko.
The two finalists of the year's first grand slam are both coming off the back of their highest earning seasons of their career to date.
World No1 Djokovic earned a record-breaking $21.6m from his imperious year on the court in 2015 while world No2 Murray made $8.2m.
Barring a long-term injury or an incredible collapse in form, Djokovic is set to replace Federer as the sport's highest earner this year and is less than $4m away from becoming the first man to make more than $100m in prize money.
After this year's Australian Open Murray is tennis' fourth highest earner of all time, moving ahead of Peter Sampras on $43.3m.
The gap between him and the majority of his contemporaries is demonstrated in the fact that no other currently active player has made more than $30m.