In early December, the Sportico portal published a list of the highest-paid female athletes in the world in 2023. Among tennis players, the following girls became the best.
1. Corey Gauff (USA, 19 years old): $22.7 million ($6.7 million in prize money). 2. Iga Swiatek (Poland, 22 years old): $21.9 million ($9.9 in prize money). 3. Emma Raducanu (Great Britain, 21 years old): $16.2 ($238,000 in prize money). 4. Naomi Osaka (Japan, 26 years old) – $15 million (0 prize money). 5. Arina Sabalenka (Belarus, 25 years old): $12.2 million ($8.2 million in prize money). 6. Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan, 24 years old): $9.5 million ($6 million in prize money). 7. Jessica Pegula (USA, 29 years old): $9 million ($6 million in prize money).
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The first five seem quite expected. Gauff, Swiatek and Sabalenka won Grand Slam tournaments in the 2023 season and are among the top three in the WTA rankings. The presence of Raducanu and Osaka is explained by their special history. Emma and Naomi may not show anything on the court, but they will still make a lot of money from endorsement deals as they are symbols of multiculturalism in the sport due to their origins.
Much more notable are the financial results of the best tennis players who did not win the TBS in the 2023 season. The fourth racket in the world, Rybakina, beat the number 5 in the world ranking, Pegula, although, apparently, there are no important prerequisites for it. Elena is originally from Moscow and represents Kazakhstan. Jessica is the daughter of billionaire oilman Terry Pegula. She lives in the big American market and was No. 1 in her country for much of the year before Gauff won the US Open in September. However, Rybakina was ahead of Pegula by $0.5 million ($9.5 million vs. $9 million), and due to her off-court earnings.
Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina
Photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images
Elena and Jessica won the same amount of prize money in tennis tournaments ($6 million each). The athletes really had a very quiet season. In the first half of the year, Pegula rose in the rankings because Rybakina did not earn points for Wimbledon 2022, where she was crowned champion. In the second half of the season, an interesting fight developed between the representative of Kazakhstan and the American. At first they consecutively ranked third or fourth in the standings and exchanged places. After the US Open, Elena and Jessica fell back to fourth and fifth position, leaving Gauff ahead. There was castling between them again. At the end of the year, Rybakina was still slightly above Pegula in the rankings.
Overall, Elena and Jessica can be happy with their season, despite the lack of Slams. Rybakina reached the final of the Australian Open and the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, and won the Indian Wells and Rome Masters. Pegula achieved the thousandth mark in Montreal, reached the final of the Final Tournament in Cancun and became No. 1 in the WTA doubles rankings in September. In TBS she reached the quarterfinals twice in singles: at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon, but she never went beyond this stage. The bottom line is that Rybakina and Pegula won the same prize money. There is also equality in personal encounters. Elena defeated Jessica in the semifinals of the Miami Masters and the American took revenge in the Cancun Final.
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How did Rybakina surpass Pegula in terms of off-court income? This year Elena switched from adidas sports equipment to Yonex. The terms of the contract were not disclosed, but it is obvious that the growing Japanese Yonex pays the Muscovite more than the well-promoted German Adidas. Rybakina became the face of the company. Previously, this brand simply made rackets for her, but starting with Roland Garros, Yonex completely dresses Elena, including her sportswear.
In addition, Rybakina cooperates with large corporations Red Bull and Bank RBK. The Red Bull patch began to appear on her uniform from Roland Garros 2023 itself. In addition, the Japanese allowed Elena to place the logos of all of her sponsors on her clothing, unlike Adidas. This could be clearly seen at Wimbledon.
Elena Rybakina at Wimbledon 2023
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Yonex decided to make a big bet on Rybakina, 24, as part of a strategy to increase the popularity of its brand. The Japanese company made sure that the young tennis player continues to progress on the court and her fan base is growing steadily and quite quickly. Rybakina probably felt that, due to her recent successes and her notable rise in popularity following her 2022 Wimbledon triumph, she deserved a more substantial contract. Therefore, I decided to stop working with adidas and signed a contract with Yonex.
Pegula, 29, has earned $3 million off the court through collaborations with Adidas and Ready Nutrition. The American also runs Ready 24, a company that produces skin care products. Interestingly, Jessica also uses Yonex rackets, like Rybakina. However, they are no longer a partner of adidas. The German brand certainly isn’t showering Jessica with a lot of money. Among the stars of the WTA circuit, Maria Sakkari and Daria Kasatkina also collaborate with adidas. That is, Pegula is “one of many” and not the face of the company.
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Pegula’s big problem is its relatively low popularity, which prevents it from taking full advantage of the large American market. Jessica has only 173 thousand subscribers on the main social network. The public did not come to her, even taking into account the long period of her tenure as the country’s first racket. Pegula is a strong tennis player, but she lacks much success in Grand Slam tournaments. She cannot overcome the barrier of the quarterfinals in major tournaments, so she does not benefit from the huge American market, which cannot be said of her compatriot Cori Gauff.
Gauff, 19, won the US Open. He already had many lucrative sponsorship contracts and after his win there were many more. As a result: earnings of 16 million dollars a year off the court. Additionally, Corey has increased his audience. Hundreds of thousands of people began to subscribe. Now, on the largest social network, 1.6 million people follow her, almost 10 times more than Pegula.
Jessica Pegula earns less off the court than Cori Gauff, although she was ahead of her in the rankings for a long time
Photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images
Elena Rybakina has 466 thousand subscribers on the main social network, a figure that is also noticeably higher than that of Jessica Pegula. Rybakina’s status as a Wimbledon champion helps her a lot. Even a TBS title is much better than numerous places in semi-finals or quarter-finals, masters cups, finals or other less prestigious competitions. You can’t help but notice Elena’s business acumen. The decision to leave Adidas and go to Yonex is bold and at the same time pragmatic.
Thus, Rybakina surpassed Pegula in off-court earnings, which was not spared from the serious advantages of the American market. Of course, it is a sin for Jessica to complain about poverty. She is the heiress of a billionaire and she herself earns quite a bit playing tennis. Although Pegula has something to fight for. She is already 29 years old. It’s time to finally advance beyond the quarterfinals on TBS. She will then have an excellent opportunity to get much more money, not only in prizes, but also through sponsorship deals.
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS