Washington, United States—US tennis superstar Serena Williams topped Forbes magazine’s list of the highest paid women in sports for the fourth straight year on Tuesday (Wednesday Philippine time).
The business publication calculated that the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion earned $29.2 million in the 12-month period ending June 1—with just $4.2 million of that coming from prize money.
Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who burst to international stardom with a stunning upset of Williams in the 2018 US Open final and went on to win the Australian Open in January, became just the fourth woman to earn more than $20 million in a year—after Williams and tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Li Na.
Forbes pegged Osaka’s earnings at $24.3 million, putting her second on a list dominated by tennis players.
Former Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber was third on the list with earnings of $11.8 million followed by this year’s Wimbledon champion Simona Halep.
Forbes included prize money, salaries, bonuses, endorsements and appearance fees between June 1, 2018, and June 1, 2019 in the figures.
The highest placed athlete from a different sport was US footballer Alex Morgan, who clocked in at 12th. Morgan earned $5.8 million, most of it in endorsements.
Indian badminton star PV Sindhu and Thai golfer Ariya Jutanugarn were the other non-tennis players in the top 15.
Meanwhile, Anett Kontaveit spoiled Sharapova’s return from injury Monday, rallying to beat the five-time Grand Slam champion 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the WTA tournament in Toronto.
Sharapova, competing for the first time since retiring from her first-round match at Wimbledon, appeared to be on course for just a fourth match win since January when she went up a set and an early break on the 16th seed from Estonia.
Having forced the third set, Kontaveit gave herself a chance to serve for the match with a break of serve in an epic ninth game. Sharapova hung on through nine deuces before Kontaveit converted her third break chance in a game that lasted more than 15 minutes.
“I was just trying to take it point by point and not think about the score that much. It worked in the end,” said Kontaveit, who converted her first match point in the following game when Sharapova sent a service return long.
While Kontaveit readies herself for a second round match against either Venus Williams or Carla Suarez Navarro — who open play on Centre Court on Tuesday — Sharapova will set her sights on next week’s tournament in Cincinnati, where she has received a wild card just as she did in Toronto.
“I don’t think this is the time to take a break,” she said.
