"Anna Kournikova had more branding than a NASCAR roadster" - Tennis insider says icons like Chris Evert, Serena Williams led women's sports boom
While women's sports is experiencing a major boom in viewership and TV ratings at the moment, it was once led by tennis icons like Serena Williams and Chris Evert, claims journalist Jon Wertheim. The American writer pinpointed occasions where female tennis players dominated the sports world in terms of revenue and off-court earnings, much earlier before other women's sports like the WNBA and LPGA reached a similar prestige status.
In a recently released by Sportico listing the highest-earning female athletes of 2024, seven of the top 10 spots went to tennis. Coco Gauff led the list, followed by the likes of Iga Swiatek, Emma Raducanu, Naomi Osaka, and Aryna Sabalenka. From the other sports, Caitlin Clark and Nelly Korda were the two notable names at the top of the list.
Yet, there has been a surprising lack of women's tennis being discussed at the moment, or so the popular opinion on social media holds. To explain why that might be so, Wertheim claimed that it is only because the WTA has 'been there, done that' already.
He pointed to several examples, from Venus Williams' multi-million dollar deal with Reebok at the start of the millennium or the craze that Anna Kournikova commanded at the peak of her tennis-playing days. He also made note of the fan following Serena Williams and her sister Venus had in the 2000s, being decidedly more popular than any male tennis star at the time.
"Venus Williams had a $40 million Reebok deal in 2000, the same year the WTA had a title sponsor, Anna Kournikova had more branding than a NASCAR roadster. Again, this was a quarter century ago," he wrote in a column for Sports Illustrated.
"More than 20 years ago, the Wimbledon women’s doubles final featuring the Williams sisters outdrew the men’s singles final," he added.
He also hailed legends like Martina Navratilova, and Billie Jean King for spearheading the idea of players using their platforms for social justice, once again showing how the WTA was the pioneer in many ways.
"Women’s players making more money in off-court income? Please. Chris Evert was an exemplar of that in the 1970s. Players using their platform for social justice? Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova practically wrote the playbook decades ago," he wrote.
"Women's tennis was ahead of this wave" - Tennis insider on the impact of Serena Williams, Chris Evert & others
Continuing his column, Jon Wertheim admitted that it would be better if players like Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff were more involved in the celebration of women's sports' success at the moment.
At the same time, he insisted that the efforts led by past icons like Serena Williams and Chris Evert could not be ignored, adding that WTA should be considered the leader of the movement regardless of the current state.
"It would be nice if Aryna Sabalenka, Gauff, Świątek and the WTA were wormed deeper into the current conversation and celebration of women’s sports," he wrote.
"I would submit that, in some ways, the WTA’s muted presence in the current discussion is a validation. Women’s tennis was ahead of this wave, not drowned by it," he added.