New Delhi: Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer has become the first sportsperson from the racquet sport to bag the Number One spot in the Forbes' list of highest paid athletes. With an estimated $106.3 million earnings racked up  over the past 12 months, Federer beat Portuguese and Juventus football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo to claim the pole position.

A major factor that went into Federer coming out on tops and edging out the soccer superstar stars was that the latter had to take heavy salary cuts during the coronavirus pandemic.

The factors that went into Forbes' calculation were athletes' revenue, including prize money, salaries, contract bonuses, endorsements, royalties, and appearance fees from June 1, 2019, until June 1, 2020.

While Federer stands atop the list with a whopping USD 106.3 million earnings, Ronaldo is on second with estimated earnings of $105 million. Ronaldo's arch rival and Argentine great Lionel Messi is third with an estimated $104 million while Brazil's Neymar comes fourth with $95.5 million.

NBA stars came next in the list with Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James earning $88.2 million, Golden State Warriors all-star Stephen Curry with $74.4 million, Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant with an estimated $63.9 million.

Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka is the highest paid female athlete with $37.4 million. She however comes only 29th in the overall rankings. US tennis great Serena Williams comes 33rd with $36 million.