Though women who have the talent and ambition to be leaders and make a difference still face challenges that simply do not apply to their male counterparts, we experience the kind of access to new opportunities those from past generations never could have imagined says Celebrated Sports Strategist and Sports Adviser Hirav Shah.
Today, the “glass ceiling” is very real, but it is more often a product of an unenlightened power broker or an organization’s flawed culture than an orchestrated environment. And there are few industries in which women have made less headway than sports.
That being said, there are exceptions to every rule. The fact that sports is still such a male-dominated world makes highlighting the highest paid sports-women in the industry all the more worthwhile.
Table of Contents
1. Naomi Osaka
Sports : Long Tennis
Naomi Osaka(born -October 16, 1997) is a professional tennis player who represents Japan. Osaka has been ranked No. 1 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. She is a three-time Grand Slam singles champion, and is the reigning champion at the US Open.
Past Performances: She came to prominence at the age of sixteen when she defeated former US Open champion Samantha Stosur in her WTA Tour debut at the 2014 Stanford Classic. Two years later, she reached her first WTA final at the 2016 Pan Pacific Open in Japan to enter the top 50 of the WTA rankings. Osaka made her breakthrough into the upper echelon of women’s tennis in 2018 when she won her first WTA title at the Indian Wells Open.
Turning Point: Later in 2018, she defeated 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams in the final of the US Open to become the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam singles title. From 2018 through 2020, she has won a Grand Slam singles title in three consecutive years.
Earnings
Total Earnings: $37.4 million
Prize Money: $3.4 million
Endorsements: $34 million
2. Serena Williams
Photo Credit
The original uploader was Nrbelex at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
Sports : Long Tennis
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player and former world No. 1 in women’s single tennis. She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, and the second-most of all time behind Margaret Court (24). The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranked her world No. 1 in singles on eight separate occasions between 2002 and 2017.
Past Performances: Williams holds the most Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles combined among active players. Her 39 Grand Slam titles put her joint-third on the all-time list and second in the Open Era: 23 in singles, 14 in women’s doubles, and two in mixed doubles. She is the most recent female player to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously (2002–03 and 2014–15) and the third player to achieve this twice, after Rod Laver and Graf.
Turning Point: Williams is also the most recent player to have won a Grand Slam title on each surface (hard, clay and grass) in one calendar year (2015). She is also, together with her older sister Venus, the most recent player to have held all four Grand Slam women’s doubles titles simultaneously (2009–10).
Earnings
Total Earnings: $36 million
Prize Money: $4 million
Endorsements: $32 million
3. Ashleigh Barty
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Photo Credit
Tatiana from Moscow, Russia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sports : Long Tennis
Ashleigh Barty (born 24 April 1996) is an Australian professional tennis player and former cricketer.
Born in Ipswich in Queensland, Barty began playing tennis at the age of four in nearby Brisbane. She had a promising junior career, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 2 in the world after winning the girls’ singles title at Wimbledon in 2011. As a teenager, Barty had early success in doubles on the WTA Tour in 2013, finishing runner-up at three Grand Slam doubles events with veteran Casey Dellacqua, including at the Australian Open while still only 16 years old.
Past Performances
Barty returned to tennis in early 2016. She had a breakout year in singles in 2017, winning her first WTA title at the Malaysian Open and rising to No. 17 in the world despite having never been ranked inside the top 100 before her time off. She also had another prolific year in doubles with Dellacqua, culminating in her first appearance at the WTA Finals in doubles. Barty then won her first Premier Mandatory and Grand Slam tournament titles in doubles in 2018 before accomplishing the same feat in singles in 2019. She also led Australia to a runner-up finish at the 2019 Fed Cup.
Turning Point
She is ranked No. 1 in the world in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and is the second Australian WTA singles No. 1 after fellow Indigenous Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley.She is also a top 20 player in doubles, having achieved a career-high ranking of No. 5 in the world. Barty has won eight singles titles and ten doubles titles on the WTA Tour, including one Grand Slam singles title at the 2019 French Open and one Grand Slam doubles title at the 2018 US Open with partner CoCo Vandeweghe. She is also the reigning champion in singles at the WTA Finals.
Earnings
Total Earnings: $13.1 million
Prize Money: $10.1 million
Endorsements: $3 million
4. Simona Halep
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Photo Credit
Simona Halep at Open GDF Suez 2010.jpg: Romain Dauphin-Meunierderivative work: Tabercil, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sports : Long tennis
Simona Halep ( born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019. In total, she has been No. 1 for 64 weeks, which ranks tenth in the history of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. Halep was the year-end No. 1 in 2017 and 2018. She has finished each year ranked no lower than No. 4 since 2014 and has the longest active streak of being ranked in the top 10.
Past Performances
Halep first broke into the world’s top 50 at the end of 2011, reached the top 20 in August 2013, and then the top 10 in January 2014. She won her first six WTA titles in the same calendar year in 2013, and was the first to do so since Steffi Graf in 1986. This led to her being named the WTA Most Improved Player at the end of the year. Halep reached three Grand Slam finals at the 2014 French Open, the 2017 French Open, and the 2018 Australian Open before winning her first Grand Slam singles title at the 2018 French Open against Sloane Stephens. A former junior champion there, she became just the sixth player to win both the girls’ singles and women’s singles titles at the French Open. Halep also finished runner-up at the 2014 WTA Finals to Serena Williams despite inflicting the worst loss of Williams’ career at that point in the round robin stage.
Turning Point
She has won 22 WTA singles titles and has finished runner-up 17 times. Halep has won two Grand Slam singles titles: the 2018 French Open and the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.
Earnings
Total Earnings: $10.9 million
Prize Money: $6.9 million
Endorsements: $4 million
5. Bianca Andreescu
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Photo Credit
MGLovesTennis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sports : Long tennis
Bianca Vanessa Andreescu ( born -June 16, 2000) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 in the world, and is the highest-ranked Canadian in the history of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Andreescu was the champion at the US Open and the Canadian Open in 2019, having defeated Serena Williams to win both titles.
Past Performances
Andreescu began playing on the ITF Women’s Circuit in July 2015. She finished runner-up to No. 155 Alexa Glatch in her professional tournament, an ITF $25K event in Gatineau. She was given wild cards into qualifying at the Canadian Open in 2015 and 2016, but was unable to qualify. Andreescu missed most of the first half of 2016 due to injury. When she returned, she began having success at ITF events in Canada. She won her first ITF titles in singles and doubles at the August 2016 event in Gatineau, winning the doubles with junior rival Robillard-Millette. In October, she finished runner-up in both the singles and doubles events at the higher-level $50K Challenger de Saguenay, again partnering with Robillard-Millette.
Turning Point
Turning point came in her life when she became the first Canadian tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles title,and the first to win the Canadian Open in 50 years. She is also the first player to win a Grand Slam singles title as a teenager since Maria Sharapova in 2006.
Earnings
Total Earnings: $8.9 million
Prize Money: $4.9 million
Endorsements: $4 million
6.Garbiñe Muguruza
Photo Credit
Charlie Cowins from Belmont, NC, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sports : Long tennis
Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (born -8 October 1993) is a Spanish-Venezuelan professional tennis player and former world No. 1. Since turning professional in 2012, she has won seven singles titles, including two majors: the 2016 French Open and the 2017 Wimbledon Championships.
Past Performances
Equipped with powerful groundstrokes and an aggressive style of play, Muguruza came to prominence in 2014, after reaching the last 16 at the Australian Open, beating former world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, en route. She then defeated then-world No. 1, Serena Williams, in the second round of the French Open, beating her in straight sets in Williams’ most lopsided loss at a major, and reaching the quarterfinals.
In 2015, at the Wimbledon Championships, she made it to her first Grand Slam final where she lost to Serena Williams, and then won her maiden Premier-level crown by capturing the China Open title. The same year, she qualified for her first WTA Finals in singles, scoring a perfect winning record in the round-robin stage before losing to eventual champion Agnieszka Radwańska in the semifinals.
Turning Point
Muguruza’s turning point came when she became successful in doubles, winning five titles, finishing runner-up at the 2015 WTA Finals and reaching the 2014 French Open semifinals. She achieved those results with her compatriot Carla Suárez Navarro.
Earnings
Total Earnings: $6.6 million
Prize Money: $2.1 million
Endorsements: $4.5 million
7. Elina Svitolina
Photo Credit
Elina_Svitolina.jpg: Robbie Mendelsonderivative work: Arteyu ? Blame it on me !, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sports : Long tennis
Elina Mykhailivna Svitolina ( born- 12 September 1994) is a Ukrainian tennis player. Having turned professional in 2010, she reached her career-high ranking of world No. 3 on 11 September 2017, and again on 9 September 2019.
Past Performances
Svitolina has won 15 WTA singles titles, including the 2018 WTA Finals and three of five Premier 5-level tournaments in 2017: the Dubai Tennis Championships, the Italian Open, and the Canadian Open. At the 2015 French Open she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, where she was defeated by former champion Ana Ivanovic.
Turning Point
Her turning point came in February 2017, after winning the title in Dubai, Svitolina became the first Ukrainian woman to break into the top-10 rankings. Svitolina would finally reach her first Grand Slam semifinal at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships and followed it up with a second consecutive semifinal at the 2019 US Open.
Svitolina has scored victories over Grand Slam champions Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Angelique Kerber, Garbiñe Muguruza, Caroline Wozniacki, Simona Halep, Naomi Osaka, Petra Kvitová, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta, Sloane Stephens, and Ashleigh Barty.
Earnings
Total Earnings: $6.4 million
Prize Money: $5.4 million
Endorsements: $1 million
8 Sofia Kenin
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Photo Credit
Tatiana from Moscow, Russia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sports : Long tennis
Sofia Anna Kenin (born -November 14, 1998), nicknamed Sonya, is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking of No. 4 in the world and is the top-ranked American in women’s singles.
Past Performances
She was named the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year in 2019, making her the first American to win the award also since Williams in 1999. Kenin has won five WTA singles titles in total. She has also won two WTA doubles titles, including the 2019 China Open at the Premier Mandatory level with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Turning Point
It came after Kenin won the Australian Open in January, building on her WTA Most Improved Player Award in 2019. At 21, she was the youngest American to win a Slam since Serena Williams in 2002.
Earnings
Total Earnings: $5.8 million
Prize Money: $4.8 million
Endorsements: $1 million
9.Angelique Kerber
Photo Credit
paddynapper, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sports : Long tennis
Angelique Kerber ( born -18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 and winner of three Grand Slam tournaments, she made her professional debut in 2003 and rose to prominence upon reaching the semifinals of the 2011 US Open as the No. 92-ranked player in the world.
Past Performances:A continually high-ranking left-handed female tennis player, Kerber has won 12 career singles titles across all surfaces on the WTA Tour, including multiple Grand Slam titles: the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open and the 2018 Wimbledon Championships. She has also won an Olympic silver medal while representing Germany at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Turning Point: The turning point came in her life when she ascended to the top of the rankings on 12 September 2016, thus becoming the twenty-second and oldest player to achieve the number-one ranking for the first time.
Earnings
Total Earnings: $5.3 million
Prize Money: $1.3 million
Endorsements: $4 million
10. Alex Morgan
Photo credit
Jamie Smed, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sports : soccer
Alexandra Morgan Carrasco(born -July 2, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Tottenham Hotspur of the English FA Women’s Super League and the United States women’s national soccer team. Since 2018, she has co-captained the national team with Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe.
Past Performances
Morgan was the youngest player on the U.S. national team that placed second in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. On July 13, 2011, she scored her first FIFA Women’s World Cup goal in the 82nd minute of the semi-final matchup against France, giving the USA a 3–1 lead and ultimately, the victory. She scored the first goal (69′) in the FIFA World Cup Final against Japan after coming on as a substitute at the half, as well as assisting on the Abby Wambach header (104′) for a goal in extra time. Her performance made her the first player to ever record a goal and an assist in a World Cup final. Morgan finished eighth in the balloting for the 2011 FIFA World Player of the Year.
Turning Point
In 2018, Morgan won US Soccer’s Female Player of the Year award. She was nominated alongside Julie Ertz, Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan and Megan Rapinoe.
As a leader of the USWNT at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Morgan scored five goals in the opening group game against Thailand to equal the World Cup single-game goals record set by Michelle Akers in 1991. Morgan also registered three assists in the game. The team’s 13–0 scoreline set a new record for margin of victory in a World Cup match. On July 2, 2019, Morgan became the first woman to score a world cup goal on her birthday, in a 2−1 win over England to reach the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final.
Earnings
Total Earnings: $4.6 million
Salary+Bonus+Endorsement: $4.6 million
Conclusion:
It is said- “As long as we persevere and endure, we can get anything we want “, which essentially means we can be Victorious with our potential and capability.””
On that note, Celebrated and Influential Sports Strategist, Hirav Shah, being a State and National Level Player in Volleyball and Chess himself, and understanding today’s scenario and trying times , asserts ”When Capability is fuelled by Luck, Then Victory becomes Easier, When Potential is powered by Astro-Strategy, Victory becomes Certain.”
