Tennis stands out among professional sports for offering equal prize money to both male and female competitors at its four grand slam tournaments.
However, this parity is not yet universal. The WTA has announced plans to extend equal prize money to all combined 1000- and 500-level events by 2027, aiming to close the pay gap across the sport.
After 23-time major champion Serena Williams retired in 2022, she remains a prominent figure in the tennis community.
Her sister, Venus Williams, is the highest-paid active women’s tennis player, earning $42.6 million in career earnings.
The five-time Wimbledon winner has won seven singles major championships. She’s been ranked number one three times in her career and became the first African American woman to rank number one with her first in 2002.
Simona Halep is second with $40.2 million in career earnings. She’s the only other active women’s tennis player to earn at least $40 million.
Halep is the second woman to win her first six WTA titles in the same calendar year, in 2013. She finished that year ranked 11 and won the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year award.
Victoria Azarenka is third, earning $38.2 million over her career. The Belarusian native has won the Australian Open twice in back-to-back years.
She became the first Belarusian athlete to win a major singles title when she won the Australian Open in 2012. In the same year, Azarenka earned two gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics: a bronze medal in women’s singles and a gold medal in mixed doubles.
Both were the first medals ever in tennis for her country.
Despite the Grand Slams paying women the same as men since 2007, the same isn’t true for all regular-season events.
A merger of the ATP-WTA would generate millions more in revenue through sponsorship rights and media deals. A unified tour could also further narrow the gap in women’s earnings compared to men’s.
Ranking The Highest-Paid Women’s Tennis Players
Here is the entire list of the top 25 highest-paid active women’s tennis players by total career earnings. The list was compiled with data from Spotrac.
- Last Updated: April 30, 2025
| Rank | Player | Singles Major Championships | Career Earnings |
| 1 | Venus Williams | 7 | $42.6 million |
| 2 | Simona Halep | 2 | $40.2 million |
| 3 | Victoria Azarenka | 2 | $38.2 million |
| 4 | Petra Kvitová | 2 | $37.3 million |
| 5 | Caroline Wozniacki | 1 | $36.4 million |
| 6 | Iga Świątek | 5 | $34.7 million |
| 7 | Aryna Sabalenka | 2 | $31.6 million |
| 8 | Karolína Plíšková | 0 | $26.1 million |
| 9 | Elina Svitolina | 1 | $24.8 million |
| 10 | Coco Gauff | 1 | $22.96 million |
| 11 | Naomi Osaka | 4 | $22.3 million |
| 12 | Madison Keys | 1 | $21.2 million |
| 13 | Sloane Stephens | 1 | $18.97 million |
| 14 | Caroline Garcia | 0 | $18.4 million |
| 15 | Jessica Pegula | 0 | $17 million |
| 16 | Jeļena Ostapenko | 1 | $16.99 million |
| 17 | Elena Rybakina | 1 | $16.7 million |
| 18 | Vera Zvonareva | 0 | $16.5 million |
| 19 | Sara Errani | 0 | $15.9 million |
| 20 | Elise Mertens | 0 | $15.87 million |
| 21 | Barbora Krejcikova | 1 | $15.8 million |
| 22 | Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova | 0 | $14.9 million |
| 23 | Kristina Mladenovic | 0 | $14.1 million |
| 24 | Ons Jabeur | 0 | $13.8 million |
| 25 | Su-Wei Hsieh | 0 | $12.8 million |
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