One could easily make the argument that female athletes don't get paid what they are worth. Maybe that has to do with the seeming extreme sexism of the general public paying (literally and figuratively) far more attention to men playing sports, but let's be real: Women rock in terms of tennis.
But who rocks the most? In terms of making money, Coco Gauff does. Once again, she has ranked at the top of Forbes' highest-paid female athletes. The ranking goes far beyond how much a player wins directly by winning tournaments, of course. If that were true, Aryna Sabalenka would be No. 1.
Instead, Forbes rightfully includes endorsements as well as tennis earnings. While Gauff made $8 million by playing her sport, she made $25 million away ($33 million total) from the court. Literally no reason exists for her to monetize her popularity. She is popular because she is young, American, plays with passion, and, most importantly, is really good at her profession.
Coco Gauff makes a lot of money, just as she deserves to
Among tennis players, Gauff had the third-most earnings, trailing only Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, the two most dominant men's players over the last two years, and probably for much of the next decade and beyond. If Gauff is going to trail anyone, at least Sinner and Alcaraz have been far more successful in tennis than anyone else.
Sabalenka ranks second on Forbes' list with a total of $30 million in earnings, with the total being evenly split between her on-court money versus what she makes away from tennis. For the second year in a row, the Belarusian was ranked atop the WTA. She is only 27 years old, so she might continue to do so for the next several years.
But the financial success of female tennis players as the top earners according to Forbes didn't stop with Gauff and Sabalenka.
Iga Swiatek ranked third with $25.1 million ($10,1 million on the court and $15 million off it), Qinwen Zheng was fifth ($22.6 million overall), Madison Keys was sixth ($13.4 million), Naomi Osaka and Elena Rybakina ($12.5 million) tied at eighth, and Jessica Pegula was tenth ($12.3 million).
The bottom line is obvious. Female athletes work hard to be successful at tennis, and they rightfully earn a lot by reaching high levels of both on-court and off-court success. The hope in the future is that more general sports fans notice the excellence of players such as Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka.