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

#5 Maria Sharapova ($10.5 million)

Maria Sharapova

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.

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#4 Garbine Muguruza ($11 million)

Garbine Muguruza

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.

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#3 Sloane Stephens ($11.2 million)

Sloane Stephens

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.

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#2 Caroline Wozniacki ($13 million)

Caroline Wozniacki

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.

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#1 Serena Williams ($19 million)

Serena Williams

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).