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, tops the list as the highest-paid active women’s tennis player, bringing in $42.7 million in career earnings.
The 5-time Wimbledon winner has won 7 total singles major championships. She’s been ranked number 1 in her career 3 times and became the first African American woman to rank number 1 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 won her first 6 WTA titles in the same calendar year in 2013, and she is the only second woman ever to do so. She finished that year ranked number 11 and won the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year award.
Earning $37.8 million over her career is Victoria Azarenka in third. 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 2 gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics: a bronze medal in women’s singles and a gold medal in the 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 bring in millions more in revenue through sponsorship rights and media deals. A unified tour could bridge the gap further 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: August 7, 2024
| Rank | Player | Singles Major Championships | Career Earnings |
| 1 | Venus Williams | 7 | $42.7 million |
| 2 | Simona Halep | 2 | $40.2 million |
| 3 | Victoria Azarenka | 2 | $37.8 million |
| 4 | Petra Kvitová | 2 | $37.3 million |
| 5 | Caroline Wozniacki | 1 | $35.9 million |
| 6 | Angelique Kerber | 3 | $32.5 million |
| 7 | Iga Świątek | 5 | $31.3 million |
| 8 | Karolína Plíšková | 0 | $25.9 million |
| 9 | Aryna Sabalenka | 1 | $24.1 million |
| 10 | Elina Svitolina | 0 | $23.6 million |
| 11 | Naomi Osaka | 4 | $21.7 million |
| 12 | Sloane Stephens | 1 | $18.6 million |
| 13 | Madison Keys | 0 | $18.3 million |
| 14 | Caroline Garcia | 0 | $18 million |
| 15 | Vera Zvonareva | 0 | $16.6 million |
| 16 | Jeļena Ostapenko | 1 | $15.2 million |
| 17 | Sara Errani | 0 | $15 million |
| 18 | Coco Gauff | 1 | $14.9 million |
| 19 | Elena Rybakina | 1 | $14.2 million |
| 20 | Elise Mertens | 0 | $14.03 million |
| 21 | Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova | 0 | $14.01 million |
| 22 | Kristina Mladenovic | 0 | $13.6 million |
| 23 | Jessica Pegula | 0 | $13.3 million |
| 24 | Ons Jabeur | 0 | $13.27 million |
| 25 | Elena Vesnina | 0 | $13.04 million |
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