Female tennis players have been all over the world news recently for apparently being overpaid. This accusation was levelled at them from certain top male pro’s.
However, it was not a case of the female players being overpaid it was more that the male players felt they were underpaid. Why was this? Don’t female players get paid the same as their male counterparts? This is true, female players have been on parity for a number of years, but the male players argument is that they have to play more games every match so should be paid more.
Here are the top 5 female players in the rankings by the WTA and their accrued earnings.
Serena Williams
USA – $80M in prize money.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) currently ranks Serena as World No.1 and has done so on six separate occasions. She first received the ranking in 2002 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest female tennis player of all time.
Her total of 21 Grand Slam singles titles is third on the all-time list behind Margaret Court (24) and Steffi Graf (22), and second in the Open Era to Graf. She is the only tennis player, female or male, to have won singles titles at least six times in three of the four Grand Slam tournaments. She is also the only tennis player to have won 10 Grand Slam singles titles in two separate decades.
Garbine Muguruza
Venezuela – $9m in prize money.
Garbine has won three major singles titles including the 2016 French Open where she defeated Serena Williams in the final. This title in Paris gave her a career high ranking of No. 2 and she is also ranked No.30 in the doubles.
Muguruza has achieved much success in the doubles, winning five titles, finishing runner-up at the 2015 WTA Finals and reaching the 2014 French Open semifinals.
Agnieszka Radwanska
Poland – $23M in prize money.
Radwanska achieved a career high singles ranking of world No. 2 in July 2012 and is currently ranked at No.3.
She is renowned for her tactical play for constructing points and making intelligent use of the court. She has won eighteen career singles titles and has a nickname of the Professor by her fellow players.
Agnieszka holds a number of records; she is the first Polish player in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam singles final in 2012 at Wimbledon. The first Pole to win the WTA finals, the first Pole to claim a WTA singles title.
Angelique Kerber
Germany – $12M in prize money
Currently the second highest ranked European player on the tour and the best left-handed player bar none. Her highest ranking was No.2
Miss Kerber is known for her aggressive all-court game and spectacular left handed shots, Angelique has won eleven singles titles, most notably her first Grand Slam title in 2016 at the Australian Open. Incredibly she has won at least one title on every surface on the WTA tour.
Simona Halep
Romania – $13M in prize money.
Simona won her first 6 WTA titles in 2013, a feat that was last achieved by Steffi Graf in 1986, being named the WTA’s Most Improved Player at it’s end as well as being named ESPN Center Court’s 2013 Most Improved Player.
Halep reached her first Grand Slam final in 2014, the French Open losing against Maria Sharapova in three straight sets. She also reached the final of the WTA Finals in the same year losing to Serena Williams.
If you are considering following in the footsteps of these five exceptional players then contact Tennis World North Sydney about all our coaching facilities.