Interesting factors we noticed in the list
At number one we have the best tennis player to honor our presence to Serena Williams who is miles ahead of number two. And guess who it is.
In another case of irony, we have Serena’s older sister, Venus Williams, in second place, although miles behind Serena, whose numbers are double those of her sister who is retired.
One can only wonder how many events Venus, who turned professional thirty years ago, would have to win to reach the earnings of her younger sister. Maybe if she hadn’t lost so many finals to her, we’d be talking about something else.
Who can catch Serena Williams?
Iga Swiatek//Getty Images
At 44 and no longer in her prime, we doubt Venus Williams will be able to catch up to her younger sister’s income. This is impossible in our opinion, and we would dare to say “never”.
Iga Swiatek is the only tennis player we think can reasonably catch up to Serena. Age works in her favor at 23 and her earnings make up around 30% of Serena’s overall earnings.
If she maintains a consistent enough level to reach the finals and win them, she could well match or see the legendary American tennis player.
Others in the top ten don’t have much luck based on their age. Only Naomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenka have a fighting chance, but very doubtful according to our assessment.
Retired players on our list
Maria Sharapova is the second highest-earning tennis player on our list, followed closely by Angelique Kerber. Sharapova is a former world No. 1 who retired in 2020 and is one of ten women to have achieved a career Grand Slam.
A career Grand Slam is the feat of winning all four major championships in a single discipline. She and Serena Willaims are the only retired women on our list to achieve this feat.
Serena did it in both singles and doubles, further showing her dominance over her counterparts in this room.
Active players on our list
Venus Williams is the highest paid person on our list, followed closely by Simona Halep. As for her age, we don’t think she has much to contribute to tennis. Her last match took place on March 19, 2024, at the Miami Open, which she lost to Diana Shnaider.
Her latest WTA ranking is 970, with earnings of $53,300. This perhaps tells us that she is now focusing more on her businesses, but until she officially retires, she is steadily holding the spot among the active cast.
As we predicted, Iga Swiatek is the player we think will tie or even see the number one player of all time, not to mention the number two active player, whose earnings eclipse Swiatek’s by just over 8 million.
