PV Sindhu amongst world's top 10 highest-paid female athletes

Forbes US released names of the world’s highest-paid female athletes in 2018. PV Sindhu became the only Indian to make it to the list, which is mostly dominated by tennis players. Cumulatively, the top ten highest-paid female athletes earned approximately $105 million in the past year, ending June 1, 2018.

Curated By: Naini Thaker

Published: Aug 22, 2018

1/9

Serena Williams
Rank 1
Total earnings: $18.1 million

Serena Williams tops the list with a whopping $18.1 million in annual earnings, despite her 14-month pregnancy break. In May this year, Williams launched a fashion label, ‘Serena’, following her collections for brands like HSN and Nike. Her endorsement portfolio is exceptional, especially compared to other female athletes. Her $86 million career prize money is twice that of her sister Venus.

2/9

Caroline Wozniacki
Rank 2
Total earnings: $13 million

Wozniacki has endorsement partners such as Adidas, Rolex, Usana, Babolat and more. Only her endorsements account for $6 million in earnings. She has partnered with Ovvo Optics for her own line of sunglasses. Wozniacki’s total prize money in the past 12 months was $7 million.

3/9

Sloane Stephens
Rank 3
Total earnings: $11.2 million

Right when her sponsorship deals were expiring, Stephens' won her first Grand Slam title – the 2017 US Open. The title led to a huge bump in new deals with Nike, Mercedes-Benz, Rolex, Colgate, Chocolate Milk and Biofreeze. Since 2002, she has been the American woman apart from the Williams sisters, to win a Grand Slam.

4/9

Garbine Muguruza
Rank 4
Total Earnings: $11 million

Muguruza’s second Grand Slam title got her big sponsors like Adidas and earned her a deal with Rolex. Her endorsements amount to $5.5 million with sponsors including, Babolat, Beats by Dre, Maui Jim sunglasses and Caser Seguros insurance. She has also signed a multiyear deal with Evian for a global marketing campaign.

5/9

Maria Sharapova
Rank 5
Total earnings: $10.5 million

Of Sharapova’s total earnings from last year, about $9.5 million came from endorsements and the rest was prize money. The Russian tennis player added a multiyear endorsement deal with UBS last year, to her existing portfolio, which already included Nike, Head, Porsche and Evian. Sharapova’s candy brand, Sugarpova is expected to touch sales of $20 million in the coming year and it is currently available in 22 countries.

6/9

Venus Williams
Rank 6
Total earnings: $10.2 million

The winner of seven grand slam singles titles, earned $6 million through endorsements and $4.2 million in prize money. This year, American medical company, Alcon has onboarded Williams to help launch a new lubricant to combat dry eye. With an awareness level of 81 percent, she charges about $100,000 for an appearance and is planning to play in the 2020 Olympics.

7/9

Simona Halep
Rank 8
Total earnings: $7.7 million

With her deal with Adidas having expired by the end of 2017, the Romanian player reached the Australian Open final wearing a dress she designed. Immediately after the Australian Open, Nike signed a multiyear pact with her.

8/9

Danica Patrick
Rank 9
Total earnings: $7.5 million

Patrick is the only racer on the list and she moved away from full-time racing after the 2017 Nascar season. Last year, she launched her own clothing line ‘Warrior’ and authored a fitness book titled ‘Pretty Intense’.

9/9

Angelique Kerber
Rank 10
Total earnings: $7 million

Only through her endorsements, the German player earns $4 million. She has some of the bigwigs sponsoring her, including Porsche, Rolex, SAP and Yonex. Adidas, however, is the biggest endorsement deal for her.