Serena Williams tops Forbes’ list of highest-earning female athletes

Williams is the most marketable female athlete in the world, and it definitely shows on her paycheck Forbes list of top earning female athletes is dominated by tennis players so often the case among tennis players, Serena Williams stands at the top. The list, which covers June 2017-June 2018, has Williams making just $62,000 in prize money in that span. However, Williams’ $18 million in endorsements more than makes up for the difference, and it’s nearly double the amount of longtime rival Maria Sharapova, who makes $9.5 million in endorsement money.

Williams, who made $19 million in endorsements in 2017, has grabbed the top spot three years running. Sharapova dominated the earnings before her ban for testing positive for meldonium in 2016, which lost her several major advertising partners.

Other tennis stars on the list include Australian Open winner Caroline Wozniacki, French Open winner Simona Halep, Wimbledon winner Angelique Kerber and last year’s US Open winner Sloane Stephens. Venus Williams is also on the list in sixth.

While Williams is the highest-paid female athlete in the world, according to Forbes, she didn’t even reach the top 100 of its list on highest paid athletes in the world  which was topped yet again this year by Floyd “Money” Mayweather.

Here’s the top 10 in its entirety:

1. Serena Williams (tennis) –$18.1m

2. Caroline Wozniacki (tennis)-$13m

3. Sloane Stephens (tennis)-$11.2m

4. Garbine Muguruza (tennis)-$11m

5. Maria Sharapova (tennis)-$10.5m

6. Venus Williams (tennis)-$10.2m

7. P.V. Sindhu (badminton)-$8.5m

8. Simona Halep (tennis)-$7.7m

9. Danica Patrick (racing)-$7.5m

10. Angelique Kerber (tennis)-$7m