Eleven tennis stars on Forbes top 20 list for highest-paid female athletes: Coco Gauff 3rd, Emma Raducanu 4th
Tennis players dominate the latest edition of Forbes’ highest-paid female athletes list as world No 1 Iga Swiatek topped the 2023 roll of honour with 10 other tennis stars in the top 20.
Just a few weeks ago, a different list compiled by Sportico had Coco Gauff at No 1 for the highest-paid female athletes in 2023, but Swiatek headlines the Forbes one with Gauff in third place, Emma Raducanu fourth and Naomi Osaka fifth.
Swiatek successfully defended her Roland Garros crown this year while she also won the WTA Finals undefeated with her run at the season-ending event her biggest payday in 2023 as she picked up a cheque of $3,078,000.
The 22-year-old earned $23.9 million in total in 2023 with $9.9m coming from prize-money earnings and, according to Forbes, $14m from off-field earnings.
Her Forbes endorsement earnings are slightly more than Sportico’s estimates as they had her total earnings at $21.9m with “only” $12m coming through sponsorship deals.
Freestyle skier Eileen Gu is second with $22.1m in total earnings with a massive $22m coming from endorsements.
According to Forbes, Gauff earned $21.7m in 2023 with $6.7m coming from prize money and $15m from endorsements.
The 19-year-old American won her maiden Grand Slam this year as she lifted the US Open trophy in September while she finished the year at a career-high No 3.
Raducanu was the fourth-highest-paid female athlete in 2023 on both lists despite playing only 10 competitive matches during the year due to injury.
The 2021 US Open champion earned only $238k prize money while she made $15m from sponsorship deals for a total of $15.2m, according to Forbes.
Naomi Osaka took the 2023 campaign off as she gave birth to her first child, a girl named Shai, in July, but she finds herself at No 5 with $15m through off-field earnings.
World No 2 and reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka sits at No 6 with $14.7m in earnings ($8.2m on field and $6.5m off field) with world No 5 Jessica Pegula ($12.5m – $6m on field, $6.5m off field), the great Venus Williams ($12.2m – $0.2m on field, $12m off field), world No 4 Elena Rybakina ($9.5m – $5.5m on field, $4m off field) and world No 35 Leylah Fernandez ($8.8m – $1.8m on field, $7m off field) completing the top 10.
Rising Chinese tennis star Qinwen Zheng also made the top 20 as she sits at No 15 with $7.2m earnings for 2023 while Ons Jabeur is 18th with $5.7m and Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrosouva 20th with $5.2m.
Forbes Top 20 Highest-Paid Female Athletes In 2023
1. Iga Swiatek (Poland) Tennis – $23.9m
2. Eileen Gu (China) Freestyle Skiing – $22.1m
3. Coco Gauff (United States) Tennis – $21.7m
4. Emma Raducanu (Great Britain) Tennis – $15.2m
5. Naomi Osaka (Japan) Tennis – $15m
6. Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) Tennis – $14.7m
7. Jessica Pegula (United States) Tennis – $12.5m
8. Venus Williams (United States) Tennis – $12.2m
9. Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) Tennis – $9.5m
10. Leylah Fernandez (Canada) Tennis – $8.8m
11. Nelly Korda (United States) Golf – $8.2m
11. Megan Rapinoe (United States) Football – $8.2m
13. Candace Parker (United States) Basketball – $8.1m
14. Alex Morgan (United States) Football – $7.8m
15. Qinwen Zheng (China) Tennis – $7.2m
16. Simone Biles (United States) Gymnastics – $7.1m
16. P.V. Sindhu (India) Badminton – $7.1m
18. Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) Tennis – $5.7m
19. Brooke Henderson (Canada) Golf – $5.4m
20. Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic) Tennis – $5.2m
READ MORE: Seven tennis stars among top 10 highest-paid female athletes in 2023: Emma Raducanu 4th
