Wednesday, October 22 2008 -- The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) announced Thursday, October 22, that a new player has broken American player Pete Sampras’ record for prize money earnings. The new record holder is the 27-year old Swiss player Roger Federer. The young player currently ranks as world number two, but he has held the number one spot since 2004. He has also won five US Open Championships.

Federer beat Sampras’ record of $43,280,489 in earnings by accumulating a whopping $43.3 million. His latest cash prize came from his wins in the recent Madrid Masters tournament. The Swiss player also has 13 grand slam titles under his belt – only one title away from Sampras’ record of 14.

“Obviously it’s nice to have records. I didn’t play tennis because of money, that was never my drive but I have been very successful,” said Federer after he reached the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters on Thursday.

He also explains that his earnings have come from his recent run of wins.

Federer also adds, “I guess this is also the moment when you can thank the all-time greats from back in the day when it was still amateur to have brought the game to where it is today. They have created the platform for us players today.”