Dec. 16, 2025, 11:31 a.m. ET
The ladies continue to make that bank.
For the second consecutive year, tennis star Coco Gauff is the world’s highest-paid female athlete, according to an annual list published by Forbes magazine.
The 21-year-old earned $33 million in compensation this year, including $8 million from the court, partly due to her French Open victory in June. But Gauff made a whopping $25 million off the tennis court, thanks to endorsements from New Balance, Bose and Baker Tilly.
According to Forbes, the top 20 athletes on the list made a combined $293 million, a 13% jump from last year, with a record 14 athletes earning $10 million a year.
Top-ranked tennis player Aryna Sabalenka, who won the U.S. Open and made the finals of the Australian Open, French Open and WTA Finals, is second on the list with $30 million. She moved into second place on the WTA’s career prize money ranking, with $45.2 million, trailing only Serena Williams’ $94.8 million.
Six-time major tennis champion Iga Świątek comes in third on the list with $25.1 million in earnings.
Freestyle skier Eileen Gu ($23.1 million) and tennis player Qinwen Zheng ($22.6 million) round out the top five.
Madison Keys (No. 6, $13.4 million), Naomi Osaka and Elena Rybakina (tied at No. 8, $12.5 million) and Jessica Pegula (No. 10, $12.3 million) are also on the tennis-heavy top 10 list.
The only other athlete who’s not a tennis player in the top 10 in earnings is golfer Nelly Korda, who ranks No. 7 with $13 million.
Indiana Fever star Cailtin Clark, who has helped the WNBA reach unprecedented heights in terms of viewership and popularity in her two seasons in the league, is No. 11 on the list, with $12 million of her $12.1 million 2025 earnings coming off the basketball court.
