The 6 women to earn more than $9m during a single WTA season as Coco Gauff emulates Serena Williams and co
Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka have joined the list of women to win more than $9m in prize money during a single season on the WTA Tour.
Only nine times in the women’s tennis history have players managed to earn more than $9,000,000 in a year on the WTA with Serena Williams achieving the feat three times and Iga Swiatek twice.
Tennis legend Williams is the only player to have earned more than $12m during a season while the 23-time Grand Slam winner is one of three players to earn more than $10m in a year.
Sabalenka joins the list in seventh place as she finally cracked the $9m mark after just missing out in 2023 when she earned $8,202,653.
Gauff, whose previous best earnings season was in 2023 when she collected $6,669,622, is just behind her in eighth place.
The 9 times players earned more than $9m during a single WTA season:
9. Serena Williams – 2014
The great Serena Williams features five times in the top 15 for biggest earnings during a season. She cracked the $9m mark for the second consecutive year in 2014 as she earned $9,317,298 that year.
Most of her earnings that year came from her title runs at the US Open, WTA Finals, Miami Open, Italian Open and Cincinnati Open as she won seven titles that year.
8. Coco Gauff – 2024
Before the WTA Finals, Coco Gauff had earned $4,548,847 for the season, but that more than doubled after she collected $4.805m following her win over Zheng Qinwen.
The $4.8m cheque was the biggest in women’s tennis as it surpassed Ashleigh Barty’s $4.42m from the 2019 WTA Finals.
Gauff earned $9,353,847 for the year and has taken her career tally to $21,581,989 and she has moved up to 23rd in the all-time prize money list.
7. Aryna Sabalenka – 2024
Reigning world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka exited in the semi-final of the 2024 WTA Finals, but she added $1,035,000 to her yearly rankings for her efforts in Riyadh.
Sabalenka finished the campaign with $9,729,260 to join the exclusive club with her big events coming from title runs at the Australian Open, US Open, Cincinnati Masters and Wuhan Open.
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6. Iga Swiatek – 2022
Iga Swiatek came close to the $10m milestone in 2022 as she won $9,857,686 in prize money.
Her big money-earners were her titles at the French Open, US Open, Qatar Open, Indian Wells Open, Miami Open and Italian Open.
5. Iga Swiatek – 2023
Twelve months after just missing out on $10m, Swiatek came even closer in 2023 as she earned $9,875,525 during the year.
The Pole collected $3,078m after winning the WTA Finals undefeated while she also won the French Open and China Open.
4. Angelique Kerber – 2016
Three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber won the Australian Open and US Open in 2016 and finished runner-up at Wimbledon and the WTA Finals.
Her grand total for the year came to $10,136,615 – nearly double her second-best earnings season in 2018 when she collected $5,296,267.
3. Serena Williams – 2015
Serena Williams made it three $9m-plus seasons in a row in 2015 as she earned $10,582,642 – the second time she had cracked the $10m mark.
The American didn’t even play at the WTA Finals, but her titles at the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, Miami Open and Italian Open were enough for a big payday.
2. Ashleigh Barty – 2019
Ashleigh Barty became only the second player to earn more than $11m during a season and her tally of $11,307,587 was the last big payday before Covid-19 hit.
The Australian won $4.42m at the WTA Finals and also collected big bucks for her French Open and Miami Open title runs.
1. Serena Williams – 2013
What a year 2013 was for Serena Williams as she earned a cool $12,385,572 for the season.
The tennis great won 11 titles that season as she went undefeated at the WTA Finals and also collected trophies at the French Open, US Open, Miami Open, Madrid Open, Italian Open, Canadian Open and China Open.
