Naomi Osaka named the highest-paid female athlete of 2021 by Forbes
World No. 13 Naomi Osaka topped Forbes' list of highest-earning female athletes in 2021.
The former World No. 1 earned $57.3 million over the last year. $55 million came from her endorsements, sponsorships and other off-court commitments. Osaka earned $2.3 million from tennis tournaments with a major portion of the amount being her prize money after winning the 2021 Australian Open.
Five tennis players made the top 10, with Forbes claiming this is the sport's lowest tally in more than a decade.
Just below Naomi Osaka was Serena Williams with $45.9 million and she is followed by older sister Venus who earned $11.3 million. WTA Finals champion Garbine Muguruza was fifth on the list with $8.8 million while World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty finished eighth.
Other women among Forbes' highest-paid female athletes include gymnast Simone Biles (fourth) and golfers Jin Young Ko and Nelly Korda (sixth and ninth respectively). Badminton star PV Sindhu (seventh) and basketball ace Candace Parker (tenth) also made it onto the list.
Here are the ten highest-paid female athletes from 2021: trib.al/WzsatZC https://t.co/Gu42JAzCDD
Tough draw for Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open
Naomi Osaka started 2021 brilliantly by winning her second Australian Open title. However, that was her only notable achievement of the year as she struggled later on. The Japanese withdrew from the French Open, citing mental health problems before suffering a third-round exit at the Olympics.
After premature eliminations at the Cincinnati Masters and the US Open, Osaka took a break from tennis.
She returned to action this year at the Melbourne Summer Set as the top seed. The 24-year-old started with a victory over Alize Cornet in three sets and reached the semifinals after straight-sets wins over Maryna Zanevska and Andrea Petkovic. However, Osaka withdrew from her last four clash versus Veronika Kudermetova due to an abdominal injury.
The former World No. 1 will compete at the upcoming Australian Open as the defending champion but has landed in the tricky section of the draw. Osaka starts the competition against World No. 53 Camila Osorio and could face Olympic champion Belinda Bencic as well.
World No.1 @AshBarty could face defending champion @naomiosaka in a fourth-round @AustralianOpen blockbuster. #AusOpen #7NEWS 7news.com.au/sport/tennis/a…
A tougher task awaits Osaka in the fourth round as her opponent could be World No. 1 and local favorite Ashleigh Barty. However, if the Japanese gets close to the kind of form she had a couple of years ago, she could trouble the Wimbledon champion.
There is a good chance of Osaka suffering a drop in the rankings after the Australian Open as the odds of her defending her title aren't great.