Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams - Tennis News (Photo : Getty Image)
The World's no. 2 ranked Women's tennis player is also the highest earning female in Sports. Maria Sharapova beats Serena Williams in churning out the cash, despite not being able to conquer her on the court.
The two tennis goddesses bested all other female athletes in the Forbes list, which proves that sports is still a man's domain. As Forbes noted, "The top 10 female athletes banked $124 million in salary, prize money, appearances, licensing and endorsements between June 2014 and June 2015." In contrast, Floyd Mayweather Jr. earned almost twice that amount in his fight against Manny Pacquiao.
Tennis is probably the sport where women can really compete. In fact, seven out of the 10 athletes in the list came from the WTA circuit, including the three highest paid.
Carolina Wozniacki rounds out the top 3 followed by pro racer Danica Patrick, the top non-tennis athlete at no. 4.
Three more tennis stars in Ana Ivanovic, Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep claim the 5th to 7th spots, while newcomer to the top 10 Ronda Rousey of Mixed martial arts fame. Golfer Stacy Lewis is at no.9 while another tennis player, Agnieszka Radwanska rounds out the list.
It might seem surprising the no.2 player earns more money than the top player, especially when you consider that the Russian's record against Serena Williams is at 2-18. Maria Sharapova simply gets more endorsements and has retained her popularity whether she wins or loses.
This may seem unfair (and some might argue, a bit racist) but more brands like Nike and Hear for Sports and Porsche, Tag Heuer, Avon and Evian choose Sharapova. Williams is also gaining more endorsement deals to go with her prize money, but her total endorsement purse is only half of the Russian netters.
