The most lucrative sport for professional female athletes is tennis. This is the conclusion reached by Forbes in its ranking of the world's highest-earning female athletes in 2020. No fewer than nine female tennis players are in the top 10 in the income ranking, which consists of prize money and endorsement income from June 1, 2019 to June 1, 2020. The only non-tennis player to make it to the top 10 is US footballer Alex Morgan, who reached tenth place in the list with total earnings of 4.6 million dollars.
However, Morgan is miles away from Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka, who leads the field with 37.4 million dollars. In second place is Serena Williams, who has been the top earner in recent years, with income of 36 million dollars. Williams' gap to third-placed Ashleigh Barty (Australia, $13.1 million) is huge. Barty's $10.1 million in prize money is the highest in that category.
| Position | Name | Total income (in million dollars) | Salary/prize money (in million dollars) | endorsement revenue (in million dollars) | Sport |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naomi Osaka | 37,4 | 3,4 | 34 | Tennis |
| 2 | Serena Williams | 36 | 4 | 32 | Tennis |
| 3 | Ashleigh Barty | 13,1 | 10,1 | 3 | Tennis |
| 4 | Simona Halep | 10,9 | 6,9 | 4 | Tennis |
| 5 | Bianca Andreescu | 8,9 | 4,9 | 4 | Tennis |
| 6 | Garbine Muguruza | 6,6 | 2,1 | 4,5 | Tennis |
| 7 | Elina Svitolina | 6,4 | 5,4 | 1 | Tennis |
| 8 | Sofia Kenya | 5,8 | 4,8 | 1 | Tennis |
| 9 | Angelique Kerber | 5,3 | 1,3 | 4 | Tennis |
| 10 | Alex Morgan | 4,6 | 0,4 | 4,2 | Football |
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