Sportico has released its annual comprehensive ranking of the highest-paid female athletes, revealing that tennis continues to dominate the upper eechelons of women’s professional sports earnings.
The list underscores the Hologic WTA Tour’s strong commercial appeal and global reach. According to www.wtatennis.com, Sportico factored in prize money, salaries, bonuses and endorsements in determining earnings.
World No. 2 Coco Gauff
Who earlier this week was selected to Forbes’ prestigious 30 Under 30 list, was the highest earner for the third consecutive year, bringing in an estimated $31 million. A shade under $8 million was earned on the court, and the rest came from lucrative endorsement deals, including partnerships with New Balance, Mercedes-Benz, Rolex, Head, Bose, Baker Tilly and Fanatics, among others.
- Gauff barely edged World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka who came in second with an estimated $30 million. Half of that came from prize money, including a record $5 million from her second consecutive US Open title, and the other half was earned through endorsement deals with such brands as Nike, Wilson, Whoop and Audemars Piguet.
- Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek, came in third with $23.1 million ($10.1 million in prize money, $13 million in endorsements).
The other tennis players in the top 10 include:
- Qinwen Zheng ($20.6 million) — who earned just $1.6 million in prize money but brought home $19 million in endorsements
- Australian Open champion Madison Keys ($13.4 million)
- WTA Finals champion Elena Rybakina ($12.6 million)
- Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka ($12.5 million)
Rybakina, who earned $8.6 million in prize money and $4 million in endorsements, was buoyed by the $5.23 million WTA Finals payout, the largest in the history of women’s sports.
- Amanda Anisimova who made two major finals in 2025, cracked the list with $10.8 million, just ahead of countrywoman Jessica Pegula who earned $10.5 million.
And returning to the top 15 was Venus Williams, who only earned $219,000 over the course of three tournaments, but added a healthy $10 million in endorsements. The non-tennis players who made Sportico’s list were freestyle skier Eileen Gu ($23 million), WNBA star Caitlin Clark ($16.1 million), golfer Nelly Korda ($13.8 million), legendary gymnast Simone Biles ($11 million) and golfer Jeeno Thitikul ($10.1 million). No player on the list earned less than $10.1 million in 2025.
