The Business of Tennis

Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff lead Forbes' 2023 list of highest-paid female athletes

Nine of the Top 10 are tennis players, and three more feature in the Top 20.

Published Dec 24, 2023

Iga Swiatek is not only the year-end No. 1 in the WTA rankings. The Polish star has also topped *Forbes*' list of highest-paid female athletes for 2023 with an estimated haul of $23.9 million this year.

Forbes has released their list annually since 2008, and Swiatek joins Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Naomi Osaka as the only tennis players to land at the top. Nine of the Top 10 players in Forbes' list were tennis players, with Chinese-American skiier Eileen Gu the only outlier.

Coco Gauff ranked No. 3 ($21.7M), followed by Great Britain's Emma Raducanu ($15.2M) and Naomi Osaka ($15M), who rounded out the Top 5 despite being sidelined for much of, and the entire, year respectively due to injuries and pregnancy.

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Iga Świątek, Eileen Gu and Coco Gauff are the top earners for the past 12 months as tennis players continue to dominate the annual pay ranking.

Who are the world’s highest-paid female athletes? See full 2023 list: https://t.co/7Mu41OJ41M pic.twitter.com/LrKPqpMUua
— Forbes (@Forbes) December 23, 2023

The list is comprised of on-court earnings and off-court earnings estimates. According to the magazine, off-court earnings are determined through "conversations with industry insiders and reflect annual cash from endorsements, licensing, appearances and memorabilia, as well as cash returns from any businesses in which the athlete has a significant interest."

Earlier this month, American sports media company Sportico released its list of the highest-paid female athletes, and that list ranked Gauff at the top using a different measure for off-court income. But that wasn't the only difference: Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams checked in at No. 8 on Forbes' list, despite missing from Sportico's completely, while Canada's Leylah Fernandez ranked No. 10 in Forbes but No. 13 by Sportico.

Forbes' Highest-Paid Female Athletes of 2023

1. Iga Swiatek - $23.9 million

2. Eileen Gu - $22.1 million

3. Coco Gauff - $21.7 million

4. Emma Raducanu - $15.2 million

5. Naomi Osaka - $15 million

6. Aryna Sabalenka - $14.7 million

7. Jessica Pegula - $12.5 million

8. Venus Williams - $12.2 million

9. Elena Rybakina - $9.5 million

10. Leylah Fernandez - $8.8 million

Zheng Qinwen ($7.9M), Ons Jabeur ($5.7M) and Marketa Vondrousova ($5.2) also feature in Forbes' Top 20.

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