London: Tennis star Maria Sharapova again tops the list of highest earning female athletes over the past year, according to Forbes. For the 11th consecutive year, the Russian heads a list dominated by tennis players, who occupy seven of the top 10 spots.
The 28-year-old Sharapova, who won the French Open last year, collected $6.7 million in prize money, but her total estimated earnings were $29.7 million, according to Forbes.
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The Forbes list also includes earnings from appearances, licensing and endorsements, personal business interests and, in some cases, salary. World number one tennis player Serena Williams is second at $24.6 million, while motor racing driver Danica Patrick is the top non-tennis player, in fourth place with $13.9 million.
The top 10 female athletes banked $124 million this year: http://t.co/JiMMdvrsF9 pic.twitter.com/kAdgsiKV1h
— Forbes (@Forbes) August 13, 2015The only other non-tennis players in the top 10 are number eight Ronda Rousey (mixed martial arts) and number nine Stacy Lewis (golf).
Tennis is one of the few big-money sports where the earnings of women are somewhat comparable to men, though Sharapova’s income nonetheless was significantly less than the $67 million earned by Roger Federer, the top tennis player on the latest Forbes men’s list.
Boxers Floyd Mayweather ($300 million) and Manny Pacquiao ($160 million) head the latest men’s list, followed by Portugal and Real Madrid soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo ($79.6 million).
The female earnings were calculated from June 1 of last year until the same date in 2015.
