Billionaire tennis star is worth more than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi combined

The French Open final is upon us – but whoever wins at Roland-Garros still won’t be able to compete financially with one former star whose net worth dwarves that of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

The world’s richest tennis player has an eye-watering net worth of around £1billion – which makes him richer than football superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi combined.

And yet, despite his incredible net worth, you’ve probably never heard of the man worth innumerably more than Ronaldo and Messi, two of the greatest footballers of all-time.

The billionaire in question is former Romanian star Ion Tiriac, who last played tennis in 1979. Remarkably, the 84-year-old only made a relatively minor £200,000 during his on-court career, accumulating his vast wealth later on in life.

Tiriac’s two biggest achievements came in 1970, when he won the French Open Doubles title and reached the semis of Wimbledon in the space of just a few short months.

Following his retirement from the game, the Romanian embarked on a coaching career and worked with the likes of compatriot Ilie Nastase and even a young Boris Becker.

In the decades since, he’s proved himself a savvy businessman and made a string of good investment decisions which saw him turn that cash into a fortune believed to be around £1billion to £1.2billion.

In comparison, his wealth dwarves the combined net worth of Messi (£482million) and Ronaldo (£402million), according to the latest estimates in June 2023.

The pair have earned huge amounts from football contracts, with Ronaldo most recently joining Al-Nassr, plus various brand tie ups with clothing companies and other organisation.