The US Women's National Soccer Team may be grabbing all the headlines this summer, but only one member – Alex Morgan – of that kick ass team of athletes made the list of the 15 highest-paid female athletes. The equal pay issue for the women's team is a big issue. However, the truth is, if you're a female athlete who wants to make big bucks, you'd better make sure you play tennis. Thirteen of the women on this list are professional tennis players. The list is rounded out with one golfer, one soccer player, and one badminton player.
When it comes to tennis, Serena Williams remains the highest-paid for the fourth consecutive year. However, Naomi Osaka, who upset Williams to win the U.S. Open last year has had a great year professionally and earnings wise. Her off-court earnings jumped from $1.5 million a year to $16 million after beating Serena. That's good enough to make her the second highest-paid female athlete of the year. Osaka became just the third female athlete to earn $20 million in a year. The other three are Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Li Na.
Williams and Osaka both earned more than twice as much as the third highest-paid female athlete in the world, Angelique Kerber, who pulled in $11.8 million from tennis.
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#15. Ariya Jutanugarn
Sport: Golf
Total Earnings: $5.3 million
Prize Money: $3.3 million
Endorsements: $2 million
#13. (tie) Madison Keys
Sport: Tennis
Total Earnings: $5.5 million
Prize Money: $2.5 million
Endorsements: $3 million
#13. (tie) P.V. Sindhu
Sport: Badminton
Total Earnings: $5.5 million
Prize Money: $500,000
Endorsements: $5 million
#12. Alex Morgan
Sport: Soccer
Total Earnings: $5.8 million
Salary: $250,000
Endorsements: $5.5 million
#10. (tie) Garbiñe Muguruza
Sport: Tennis
Total Earnings: $5.9 million
Prize Money: $2.4 million
Endorsements: $3.5 million
#10. (tie) Venus Williams
Sport: Tennis
Total Earnings: $5.9 million
Prize Money: $900,000
Endorsements: $5 million
#9. Elina Svitolina
Sport: Tennis
Total Earnings: $6.1 million
Prize Money: $4.6 million
Endorsements: $1.5 million
#8. Karolina Pliskova
Sport: Tennis
Total Earnings: $6.3 million
Prize Money: $4.6 million
Endorsements: $1.7 million
#7. Maria Sharapova
Sport: Tennis
Total Earnings: $7 million
Prize Money: $1 million
Endorsements: $6 million
Sport: Tennis
Total Earnings: $7.5 million
Prize Money: $3.5 million
Endorsements: $4 million
#5. Sloane Stephens
Sport: Tennis
Total Earnings: $9.6 million
Prize Money: $4.1 million
Endorsements: $5.5 million
#4. Simona Halep
Sport: Tennis
Total Earnings: $10.2 million
Prize Money: $6.2 million
Endorsements: $4 million
#3. Angelique Kerber
Sport: Tennis
Total Earnings: $11.8 million
Prize Money: $5.3 million
Endorsements: $6.5 million
#2. Naomi Osaka
Sport: Tennis
Total Earnings: $24.3 million
Prize Money: $8.3 million
Endorsements: $16 million
#1. Serena Williams
Sport: Tennis
Total Earnings: $29.2 million
Prize Money: $4.2 million
Endorsements: $25 million
