Top 10 highest paid female athletes in the world in the past one year

There are many female athletes who have come to the fore in the recent past due to their exemplary performances in their sport. However, there are some who have been at the top since quite some time and their position is immovable. While there is a never-ending debate on the fact that the women athletes are paid much less than their male counterparts, such is not the case in a few sports anymore.

The U.S Open in tennis, for example, has the same prize money in the men's competition as well as the women's competition. However, discrepancies are still there in sports such as basketball where the men are much more highly rewarded.

In this article, we take a look at the Top 10 highest paid female athletes of 2018. A major chunk of their earnings does come from sponsorships while the rest is from winnings.

Here are the top 10 players in the list as per Forbes:

#10 Danica Patrick ($7.5 million)

One of the most successful female racing drivers of all time, Danica Patrick is the only racer on the list. The 36-year-old has raced for JR Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing among others.

She hung up her boots in Nascar in 2018. GoDaddy.com, Nature's Bakery, Hot Wheels, Tissot, Chevrolet, and Coca-cola are some of the brands she has endorsed.

Her total earnings over the past year are estimated to be $7.5 million.

#9 Simona Halep ($7.7 million)

Currently the top-ranked women's tennis player, Halep won the French Open in 2018 and finished as the runner-up at the Australian Open. The 27-year-old Romanian penned a new deal with Nike. She is also the brand ambassador of Mercedes Benz in Romania and the face of Hublot -- a luxury watch brand -- since 2016.

Her earnings since the past one year are estimated to be $7.7 million (6.2 from prize money and 1.5 from endorsements).

#8 PV Sindhu ($8.5 million)

India's top shuttler and current World No. 3 player, PV Sindhu is the only badminton player on the list. Even though the prize money of badminton is comparatively much lesser than that of tennis, Sindhu makes the majority of her money by becoming the face of multiple brands.

The 23-year-old is the brand ambassador of tyre brand Bridgestone India. Reckitt Benckiser, online fashion store Myntra, Panasonic, and Gatorade are some of the other brands Sindhu endorses. In fact, Sindhu brings in so much money from endorsements that she can be compared with the likes of cricketers such as Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni.

#7 Venus Williams ($10.2 million)

Current World No. 22, and sister of Serena Williams, the seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus is also one of the tennis players who finds her name on this list. Even though she does not have any major wins in the past year, she does bring in a lot of money from her endorsements and design company V Starr Interiors. Wilson, Ralph Lauren, and EA are some of the other brands she endorses.

#6 Angelique Kerber ($10.3 million)

The 30-year-old German tennis player is currently ranked 3rd as per the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). She has had a great 2018 season so far as she made it to the quarterfinals of the French Open and won the 2018 Wimbledon Championships by defeating Serena Williams in the final. The tennis ace, who turned pro in 2003, also has the Hopman Cup title to her name this year. Her overall career prize money is a whopping $26,738,016.

Porche, Rolex, Yonex, Adidas, and SAP are some of the top brands that she endorses.

Kerber earned $6.3 million as prize money and $4 million from her endorsements, taking her overall tally to $10.3 million.

#5 Maria Sharapova ($10.5 million)

Russian tennis ace, who is currently World No. 26, Maria Sharapova got the majority of her earnings in the past year through endorsements. Sharapova made it to the French Open quarter-finals this year, in which she lost to Garbiñe Muguruza.

The list of brands she has endorsed are endless. Porsche, Head, and Nike are a few brands for which she is the face of, and the latest to the list is UBS. The 31-year-old also brings in a lot of money from her candy brand Sugarpova.

#4 Garbine Muguruza ($11 million)

25-year-old Garbine Muguruza was the Wimbledon Champion in 2017 while she made it to the semi-finals of the French Open this year, before losing to eventual champion Simona Halep. The Spaniard currently endorses brands such as Babolat, Mazda, Adidas, Beats by Dre, and Rolex among others.

#3 Sloane Stephens ($11.2 million)

Sloane's win at the 2017 US Open really revived her endorsement career. Biofreeze, Colgate, Nike, and Mercedes-Benz rushed to renew or sign endorsement contracts with the current World Number 8 player. The 25-year-old American has a huge prize money of $12,069,203 till date. Her past endorsers include American Express credit cards and Listerine mouthwash.

#2 Caroline Wozniacki ($13 million)

The 28-year-old tennis ace from Denmark, Caroline Wozniacki, won the Australian Open in 2018. She is one of the most marketable personalities. The World number 2 player currently endorses brands such as Babolat, Rolex, and Adidas.

#1 Serena Williams ($19 million)

Even though Serena missed out from much of the action for the majority of the season due to pregnancy, she finds her name at the top of the list. Such is the 37-year-old's dominance in the sport that she managed to reach the final of the Wimbledon and the US Open in 2018.

The World No. 17 player also launched her own fashion collection called 'Serena' in May this year. Beats by Dre, Gatorade, Aston Martin, BM, Intel, Chase Bank -- these are the list of brands America's ace tennis player has endorsed. Her total career prize money of $88,233,301 is more than double of that of the 2nd highest total prize money of a female tennis player (her sister Venus Williams).

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Edited by Sudeshna Banerjee