SERENA WILLIAMS has earned the most cash prize of any woman in her career – with one major difference.
In fact, her career earnings are more than double that of the runner-up woman – her sister Venus.
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Venus (left) and Serena Williams are the highest paid tennis players in historyPhoto credit: Getty Images – Getty
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The top ten earners in WTA history
Maria Sharapova rounds out the top 3, with the entire top ten making £ 20 million or more.
Williams has won 23 Grand Slams in her career, second only to Margaret Court’s 24. The Australian’s last title came in 1975.
Unsurprisingly, Venus and Sharapova won the most grand slams of the highest earners with seven and five respectively.
Here are the top ten earners in WTA history.
Serena Williams – £ 72m
The American star has played 419 more tennis matches than any other woman.
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And in that time she has won an astonishing 73 career titles.
An injury-ridden season meant she only made £ 243,424 in 2021 and will also miss the Australian Open in 2022.
She won the tournament more than any other woman at seven – as much as she did at Wimbledon.
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Serena Williams is a leader in career earningsCredit: AP
Venus Williams – £ 32 million
Venus has struggled with form and injury in recent years, having last won a Grand Slam in 2017.
But she is said to have made as much money as her sister this year and broken the record for most Grand Slam appearances by playing at Wimbledon.
However, this year it also dropped out of the top 100 rankings and fell back to its lowest rank since 2011.
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Venus Williams broke the record for the most Gran Slam appearances this yearCredit: AP
Maria Sharapova – £ 29m
Sharapova retired in 2020 six years after her last Grand Slam victory in Paris in 2014.
That win came two years after her most successful year in terms of prize money when she raised £ 5million in 2012.
The Russian won five Grand Slam titles, the first he won at Wimbledon in 2004 at the age of 17.
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Maria Sharapova is in the top 3 with £ 29m earnedCredit: EPA
Simona Halep – £ 28m
The Romanian is nearing the top three and a successful 2022 could see her jump over Sharapova in the overall standings.
But she has to improve something first.
Currently in 20th place in the world rankings, Halep has not won a Grand Slam since 2019 and has only two Grand Slams in her name.
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Simon Halep (left) celebrates the win at WimbledonPhoto credit: PA
Caroline Wozniacki – £ 27m
Wozniacki, 31, is another retiree but has had a successful career.
Her only Grand Slam win came in Australia in 2018 – she earned £ 5,652,199 that year after also winning the Eastbourne International and the China Open.
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Caroline Wozniacki once earned £ 5,652,199 in a single yearCredit: AP
Victoria Azarenka – £ 25m
Azarenka has moved up one spot on this list from last year after paying a whopping £ 1,211,163 in 2021.
The 32-year-old spent a long time outside of the game, giving birth to son Leo in 2016, but has recently seen a resurgence.
She reached the final of the US Open in 2020 and wants to build on her current world ranking of 27.
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Victoria Azarenka has seen a return to form in the past few yearsPhoto credit: Reuters
Petra Kvitova – £ 25m
Kvitova’s form has waned in recent years, despite making it to the 2020 French Open semi-finals.
She failed to make it past the third round in any of the four Grand Slam tournaments, which resulted in Azarenka taking her sixth place in the career wins ranking.
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Petra Kvitova has slipped in the top ten rankings this yearCredit: AFP or Licensor
Angelique Kerber – £ 24m
Compared to 2016 when she won the US and Australian Open, it was a slim pick for Kerber in 2021 – earning £ 8.6m in the process.
The Germans’ last Grand Slam victory came in 2018 at Wimbledon when they defeated Serena in the final.
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Angelique Kerber defeated Serena in the 2018 Wimbledon finalPhoto credit: Splash News
Agnieszka Radwanksa – € 21 million
Radwanska is the only member of the top ten who has never won a Grand Slam.
However, she can boast 20 career titles before retiring due to injury in 2018.
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Agnieszka Radwanksa retired in 2018Photo credit: Reuters
Svetlana Kuznetsova – £ 20 million
Kuznetsova, 36, has struggled in recent years, winning only one of four Grand Slam games in 2021.
In fact, she has only reached the second round twice in her last eleven Grand Slam appearances.
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Svetlana Kuznetsova is threatened with relegation from the top tenPhoto credit: Getty Images – Getty
