Seven Women Tennis Players Lead The Forbes List

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 6th August 2013

Seven Women Tennis Players Lead The Forbes List

epa03789754 US tennis player Serena Williams returns the ball to Sesil Karatantcheva of Kazakhstan during their women's single first round match at the Swedish Open tennis tournament in Bastad, Sweden, 16 July 2013. EPA/BJORN LARSSON ROSVALL SWEDEN OUT |

Seven women’s tennis players lead the Forbes list of top women’s athletes.

Maria Sharapova led the pack with total earnings of $29 million, with $6 million in prize money and $23 million in endorsements.

Serena Williams is No. 2 with total earnings of $20.5 million, with some $12 million coming in endorsements. Williams pitches for Nike, Wilson, Gatorade and OPI. She also is said to have equity deals with HSN, Sleep Sheets, Mission and the Miami Dolphins.

China’s Li Na’s earnings keep climbing, with $18.2 million overall, with $15 million coming in endorsement, which is more than Williams. She extended her deal with Rolex deal earlier this year after reaching the Australian Open finals.

Victoria Azarenka climbed way up the ladder to No. 4, with total earnings of $15.7 million. Her $7.9 million prize money take in 2012 was a single year record for a female athlete in any sport. She is sponsored by Nike, Wilson, American Express, Six Star Pro Nutrition, InstaForex, Citizen Watch and Red Bull.

Auto racer Danica Patrick came in fifth with $15 million overall and was followed by No. 7 Caroline Wozniacki, whose overall take was $13.6 million, but only $2.6 million came in prize money. Some 10 companies sponsor her. South Korean figure skater Kim Yuna came in sixth at $14 million.

Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska also saw a big boost coming in at No. 8. She had total earnings of $7.4 million, with prize money of $4.9 million and endorsements of $2.5 million Her biggest endorsement comes from Lotto.

Ana Ivanovic came in No. 9 with $7 million overall. She didn’t earn a tremendous amount in prize money at $1 million, but she took in endorsements of $6 million.

Golfer Paula Creamer came in at No. 10 at $5.5 million