Tennis has been a popular sport for many years, but it wasn’t until the 2000s that Female Tennis Players started to be paid as much as their male counterparts. This trend has only occurred recently thanks to champions like Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova who have demanded more from tournament organizers in terms of prize money.
Female Tennis Earnings Serena Williams
Serena Williams is a retired professional tennis player who has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles. She was ranked world number one on six separate occasions and has been listed among the top 20 female players in total prize money earnings by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
Her career started in 1995 when she played her first professional tournament at age 14, but didn’t start winning until 1999 when she won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon while still only 17 years old! Her highest single-year earnings were $29 million dollars in 2017 when she won three major titles including Wimbledon and US Open that year. However, her highest single year prize money was $11 million dollars back in 2008 after winning five majors during that season including French Open which made it 6 out of 7 consecutive years where Serena had won at least one major tournament every year since 2004.
Female Tennis Earnings Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova is the highest paid Female Tennis Earnings. She has earned more than Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka combined. In 2015 Maria Sharapova earned $29 million dollars playing tennis which makes her one of only three female athletes in history to earn over $20 million from endorsements alone (the other two are Serena Williams & Kobe Bryant).
Female Tennis Earnings Venus Williams
Venus Williams has earned $49 million in total earnings, with $20 million of that coming from endorsements and the rest from prize money. She has won 6 Grand Slam titles during her career: Wimbledon (1999), U.S. Open (2000), Australian Open (2002) and French Open (2006).
The highest paid female tennis players are Maria Sharapova ($29 million), Serena Williams ($28 million), Caroline Wozniacki ($10 million) and Venus Williams ($9 million). Victoria Azarenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player who has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2012 Australian Open against Li Na 3-6 6-4 6-2; 2013 Wimbledon against Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3 7-5; 2014 US Open against Sloane Stephens 4-6 7-5 6-3 and 2017 Australian Open against Jeļena Ostapenko 6-1 3-6 6-3. She also reached the finals of WTA Finals in 2011 where she lost to Kim Clijsters 2–6 5–7 after holding match point on her serve at 5–4 in the second set tie break.
Conclusion
Female tennis players, on average, earn less than their male counterparts. This is not because they are less talented or work harder; it’s because of the way tournaments pay them. This is because the WTA Tour has fewer events than the ATP Tour and women play best-of-three sets instead of five sets like men do. Women also retire earlier than men do at an average age of 27 years old compared to 30 years old for men (based off data from 2016). The average Female Tennis Earnings between $50,000 and $100,000 per year. This is much less than their male counterparts who earn on average between $5 million and $10 million per year.
