In the list of 10 richest female athletes below, tennis is overwhelmingly dominant with 8 tennis stars.

1- Maria Sharapova: 195 million USD

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (born 1987) is a Russian tennis player, currently living in the US and has been the highest-paid female athlete in the world for the past 10 years. At the age of 6, Maria was accidentally discovered by the legend Martina Navratilova on a tennis court in the resort city of Sochi. At the age of 9, her father Yuri took her to study at the Nick Bollettieri tennis academy in Florida, USA. At the age of 17, Masha won the 2004 Wimbledon Open held in England, after defeating the great Serena Williams.

Sharapova joined the “temple of legends” in 2012, when she became the 6th female tennis player to win the “Career Grand Slam” – winning all 4 tournaments: Wimbledon, US Open, Australian Open and Roland Garros. In total, she “pocketed” 35 million USD in prize money in her career to date.

With an ideal height of 1m88 and a beautiful appearance like a model, Masha is also an extremely expensive “advertising brand”. On average, she earns 22 million USD a year from advertising, including an 8-year 70 million USD contract with Nike and 5 years with Evian, as well as cooperation with fashion brand Cole Haan, Swiss luxury watch Tag Heuer, supercar Porsche and many other brands.

2- Serena Williams: 145 million USD

Second place on this list belongs to American tennis star Serena Jameka Williams (born 1981). She is currently the world number 1 of WTA with more than double the score of the second place, “Russian doll” Sharapova – an unprecedented record.

Serena is considered by many experts and fans to be the greatest female tennis player of all time, with 21 Grand Slam singles titles and 13 doubles titles with her sister Venus. She also won the prestigious WTA Tour Championships 5 times, won 4 gold medals at 3 Olympics.

With countless championships in her career so far, the “Queen of Tennis” has earned 73.3 million USD in prize money, the most in the history of women’s tennis in the world. In addition, Serena also “pockets” an average of 12 million USD per year thanks to a series of advertising contracts with financial group JP Morgan Chase, Swiss luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet, beverage manufacturer PepsiCo, sports fashion brands Nike and Wilson… She also has shares in the Miami Dolphins football team playing in the US National Championship.

3- Venus Williams: 75 million USD

In third place is another tennis star: Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born 1980), Serena’s older sister. The Williams sisters were taught tennis by their father since elementary school, and have always practiced together even when competing professionally. She has had three periods of being ranked number one on the WTA for a total of 11 weeks, and is considered the best player on grass in the modern era. In total, Venus has won 22 Grand Slams: 7 times in women’s singles, 13 times in women’s doubles and 2 times in mixed doubles. Like her sister, Venus has also won 4 prestigious gold medals at the Olympics.

To date, the Williams sister has “pocketed” a prize of 31 million USD thanks to championship titles. In addition, she also received a degree in fashion design from the Fort Lauderdale Art Institute in 2007, while developing the sportswear brand EleVen. On average, Venus earns more than 2 million USD each year thanks to sponsorship and advertising contracts with Wilson, Electronic Arts, Kraft, Ralph Lauren, Tide, etc.

4- Kim Yu-Na: 21 million USD

Ranked 4th on the list is an athlete from South Korea: Kim Yu-Na (born 1990), one of the best female skaters in the world in recent years.

She is famous for her perfect technique, her “Yu-Na brand” triple-triple jumps, which are fast and artistic. She is the first Korean star to win a medal at the ISU Championship, the Senior Grand Prix or the Olympics. Yuna has won a gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics, the 2009 World Championship, and 3 times at the Grand Prix Final…

Since winning the Olympic Gold Medal in Vancouver, she has become the most famous athlete in Korea, winning many valuable advertising contracts. According to statistics, she receives an average of about 8 million USD from advertising each year. Samsung has its own smartphone model named Kim Yuna, selling more than 1 million units. The “Queen of Skating” also has contracts with Korean Airlines, SK Telecom, LacVert Essance, Maeil milk…

5- Danica Patrick: $18 million

Danica Sue Patrick (born 1982) is an American professional race car driver. She is a pioneer in professional racing for women. Because of her love for racing, Danica dropped out of high school, moved to England and became the first woman to win second place in the Formula Ford Festival. With her victory at the 2008 Indy Japan 300, she became the first woman to win an Indy race.

Although she has not achieved much success on the racetrack, with her attractive appearance, Danica has many high-value advertising contracts. The famous domain name provider Go Daddy has sponsored the “speed queen” for the past 8 years. In addition, she is also associated with the beverage company Coca Cola, Swiss watchmaker Tissot, car company Chevrolet, food company Shamrock Foods, insurance group Nationwide Insurance, etc.

6- Li Na: 15 million USD

Tennis star Li Na (born 1982) is one of China’s most famous athletes. She became the first Asian woman to win a Grand Slam when she won the French Open in 2011. She then won the Australian Open in 2014 and reached No. 2 in the WTA rankings, the highest ranking ever achieved by an Asian player. However, due to persistent knee injuries, she had to retire in September last year.

Throughout her career, Li Na has “pocketed” a prize money of about 16 million USD. After winning the Australian Open in early 2014, she got a multi-million dollar advertising contract with sportswear brand Nike. Before that, when she won the French Open in 2011, she was sponsored by luxury car company Mercedes Benz for 4.5 million USD over 3 years. In addition, she also has many valuable contracts with technology giant Samsung, Swiss luxury watch Rolex, tennis equipment company Balolat, adhesive tape company SpiderTech and many other famous companies in China.

7- Victoria Fyodorovna Azarenka: 15 million USD

Belarusian tennis player Victoria Azarenka (born 1989) is ranked 7th on this list, with a net worth of $15 million. She was ranked number 1 in the WTA in January 2012, won the women’s singles Grand Slam twice at the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013, and won the mixed doubles titles at the French Open (2008) and the US Open (2007). Azarenka also won the mixed doubles gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London.

To date, Belarus’s most famous star has earned around $25 million in prize money for her titles. Last year, she became the first tennis player to sign an advertising contract with beverage giant Red Bull. She also has a $4 million contract with Nike, and many other advertising deals with famous brands such as Wilson, Citizen Watch, American Express, Six Star Pro Nutrition, etc.

8- Agnieszka Radwanska: 14.7 million USD

Agnieszka Radwanska (born 1989) is a Polish professional tennis player who has achieved the best results in the open era when she was ranked 2nd in the WTA rankings in July 2012. She is also the first Polish star to reach the semi-finals of the women’s singles event of a Grand Slam (Wimbledon 2012). Radwanska was also voted the most favorite female tennis player of WTA for 4 consecutive years (2011-2014).

She has earned around $18 million in prize money for her achievements so far. Italian sportswear brand Lotto is currently Radwanska’s biggest sponsor. She also has a multi-million dollar contract with American food company Cheesecake Factory, as well as deals with a number of other famous brands such as Swiss watches Rado, modeling for luxury cars Lexus NX…

9- Caroline Wozniacki: 12 million USD

Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki (born 1990) is one of the few female tennis players to have ranked first in the WTA without ever winning a Grand Slam tournament. Her highest achievement is reaching the final twice at the US Open (2009, 2014), the best result in the history of Danish tennis. In addition, she won 23 women’s singles titles at WTA tournaments.

Winning minor tournaments has also brought Wozniacki a prize money of more than 19 million USD to date. With her beautiful appearance, she has won a series of advertising contracts worth about 10 million USD per year with brands such as Adidas, Compeed, Rolex, Danske Invest, Oriflame, Proactiv, Sony Ericsson, Babolat, e-Boks, Yonex, Turkish Airlines… Most recently, an agreement with the premium chocolate brand Gopa Chocolatier.

10- Ana Ivanovic: 7 million USD

At the bottom of the list is Ana Ivanovic (born 1987), a Serbian tennis star. She was ranked No. 1 on the WTA in 2008 and is currently ranked No. 7. Ivanovic won the women’s singles title at the 2008 French Open and reached the final of the Australian Open that same year. In June 2011, she was named one of the 30 greatest female tennis legends by Time magazine, and is listed among the 100 greatest players of all time.

Throughout her career, Ivanovic has received $14 million in prize money. She is the ambassador of the sportswear brand Adidas. In addition, the famous Serbian tennis player also has a number of other advertising contracts with the Swiss luxury watch brand Rolex, the sports equipment company Yonex, the nutritional food brand Juice Plus and the Dubai airport retail company Duty Free./.