Forbes magazine published the top 10 highest paid female athletes in the world in 2015. This group includes representatives of seven different nationalities. Together, they raised $ 124 million, including royalties from personal business ventures, advertising and sponsored tournaments.
This is what the ranking of the richest female sports stars looks like.
10. Agnieszka Radwanska
The professional tennis player from Poland plays in a "thinking" manner, unlike many other tennis stars who rely primarily on the force of the blow. And although 2014 and 2015 were not very successful for Radwanska (she dropped out of the top 10 singles classification for the first time in three years), $ 6 million will serve as her consolation. Moreover, 4 million dollars of this amount were received from advertising.
9. Stacy Lewis
In 2014, Lewis won the Women's Professional Golf Association's Player of the Year title twice in three years. Many business giants such as Marathon Petroleum, Bridgestone, Mizuno and others cooperate with it. Sports and advertising generated $ 6.4 million in revenue for Lewis.
8. Rhonda Rosie
The newcomer to the rankings is a judoka and American MMA star, who twice defended her title of champion of the Absolute Fighting Championship (UFC). Its profit this year was $ 6.5 million. In addition to sports, Rosie is successfully making a film career. She appeared in The Expendables 3 as Luna, a former bouncer and aspiring mercenary. And in the movie "Fast and Furious 7" she played Kara, the head of the security.
7. Simona Halep
Won three tournaments in early 2015. Thanks to this, as well as sponsorship contracts with Adidas, Wilson and other corporations, the Romanian tennis player earned $ 6.8 million.
6. Petra Kvitova
The 25-year-old Czech tennis player's father and brothers also play tennis. However, they are amateurs and Petra is a professional. And this is confirmed by the victories at Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, and the winnings in all singles at the Hopman Cup in 2014. This, as well as contracts with Wilson, Nike and Ritmo Mundo, provided Petr Kvitov with an impressive $ 7.7 million.
5. Ana Ivanovic
Unlike the two tennis stars who are on the list ahead of her, Ana Ivanovic last year made most of her profits ($ 6.5 million) from sponsors like Adidas, Shiseido and Dubai Duty. Free. Combined with the $ 1.8 million that Ivanovic earned on the court last year, this Serbian athlete has a total of $ 8.3 million.
4. Danica Patrick
In addition to numerous tennis players, one American race car driver was included in the top ten highest paid female athletes. While her main sponsor, GoDaddy, recently announced that he will be leaving NASCAR at the end of the year, Forbes believes Patrick's return to Stewart-Haas Racing will give her many new sponsors. In the meantime, she will have to be content with the amount of $ 13.9 million earned in the period from June 1, 2014 to June 1, 2015.
3. Caroline Wozniacki
2015 was an eventful year for the Danish tennis player. She appeared in the "Bathing" issue of Sports Illustrated and ran the New York City Marathon. Despite these events, Wozniacki found time to advertise Godiva sweets and Lavazza coffee. The candy and coffee profits were $ 11 million. The athlete received another 3.6 million dollars from performances on the court. Her total income is $ 14.6 million.
2.Serena Williams
Despite her dominance at the tennis court, Serena Williams came in second on the list of female athletes with the highest income. Last year, she raised $ 11.6 million from professional tennis victories and $ 13 million from ads for PepsiCo, Chase and Audemars Piguet. Williams' total annual income was $ 24.6 million.
1. Maria Sharapova
The richest sportswoman in the world... The Russian tennis player can sometimes play second fiddle behind Serena Williams on the tennis court, but she is the unsurpassed leader in the 2015 Highest-Paid Sportswoman ranking. Sharapova's earnings over the past 12 months amounted to $ 29.2 million.