New highest-paid female athlete rankings drop—Gauff, Sabalenka and Swiatek lead tennis’ charge

A new update on the ranking of the world's highest-paid female athletes in 2025 once again features tennis players as leaders in terms of monetary prizes, including both on-court earnings and endorsements. Ten tennis players are included in the top-15, led by Coco Gauff.

The top-3 in earnings precisely matches the top-3 of the WTA ranking, and all owe a large part of their income to endorsements with brands outside the court. In this sense, the leader is American Coco Gauff, who accumulated $8 million in on-court earnings for the year, plus another $23 million from off-court deals, as part of her agreements with brands like New Balance, Rolex, and Emirates Airlines.

She is followed by World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who earned $15 million on the court – the female athlete who earned the most money strictly from sports prize money – and added another $15 million from endorsements. Her sponsors include Nike, Wilson, Electrolit, and IM8 (a vitamin supplement owned by former footballer David Beckham).

Third place goes to Poland's Iga Swiatek (World No. 2 in the WTA Ranking), who earned just over $10 million on the court – about 30% solely from her Wimbledon title – and another $13 million in sponsorships, including On, Porsche, Rolex, Visa, Infosys, Lancôme, and Lego.

Only in 4th place do athletes outside the tennis world appear. American skier Eileen Gu – a gold medalist at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games – reached $23 million, just behind Świątek's $23.1 million.

Further back is China's Zheng Qinwen to complete the top-5. Despite being out of competition for several months and earning 'only' $1.5 million in on-court winnings, she manages to exceed the $20 million barrier thanks to her sponsors. The Tokyo 2024 gold medalist reaches 5th place due to her agreements with brands like Nike, Rolex, Dior, Audi, and Gatorade.

Following Zheng are WNBA basketball player Caitlin Clark with $16 million and golfer Nelly Korda – sister of ATP player Sebastian Korda – who reaches $13.8 million.

The rest of the top-10 is dominated by another high-profile tennis player. The 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys takes 8th place with $13.4 million, followed by Elena Rybakina with $12.6 million. The Kazakh player is a unique case in the ranking, being the only one in the top-10 with more prize money earned on the court ($8.6m) than from endorsements.

Naomi Osaka joins in 10th place with $12.5 million in earnings – $10 million of which came from endorsements. The 4-time major champion pushed gymnast Simone Biles out of the top-10, who did not earn money in competitions this year and was left with $11 million in earnings solely from endorsements.

The other tennis players who complete the ranking are Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula, and Venus Williams, all above the $10 million earnings mark.