Top 5 career prize money leaders on the WTA tour ft. Serena Williams & Maria Sharapova

Female tennis players have fought for equal prize money since the advent of the Open Era. The Women's Tennis Association (WTA), founded by Billie Jean King, was instrumental in creating a circuit of tournaments for professional women's tennis players. In 1970s, men used to earn five to 12 times more than women based on the category of the tournament.

The establishment of the WTA helped in reducing this difference, with the US Open awarding equal prize money to both men and women in 1973. However, the hustle was not over yet as it took 18 more years for the other Slams to speak in the same voice. The 2001 Australian Open, the 2006 French Open and Wimbledon 2007 finally gave equal prize money to both men and women.

Today's WTA Tour has different categories of tournaments based on the number of ranking points they have to offer - WTA 1000, WTA 500 and WTA 250 events respectively.

The WTA 250 events offer a prize money of approximately $250,000, the WTA 500 has events with a prize money of approximately $500,000 and the WTA 1000 with $1,000,000. The money awarded at the four Slams are $1,982,398 at the Australian Open, $2,257,728 at the French Open, $2,404,850 at the Wimbledon and $2,500,000 at the US Open.

Prize money won in a single season

$1 million: Navratilova ('82)
$2 million: Navratilova ('84)
$3 million: Hingis ('97)
$4 million: Clijsters ('03)
$5 million: Henin ('07)
$6 million: S. Williams ('09)
$7 million: S. Williams & V. Azarenka ('12)

2013: S. Williams ($12+ million)

We take a look at the top 5 women who have won the most prize money in their careers as of 18th July 2022

#5 Caroline Wozniacki

Former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki has won only one Slam in her career - the 2018 Australian Open. She was twice a runner-up at the US Open and was the Tour Finals champion in 2017. The Dane reached the quarterfinals of the French Open twice and lost in the fourth round of Wimbledon six times. She was the World No. 1 for 71 weeks and won 30 singles titles in her career.

🏆 2018 Australian Open champion
🇺🇸 2 x US Open finalist
🙌 30 x WTA titles

💪Longest time span for a female player to return to no. 1 (2012-2018)

Caroline Wozniacki, thanks for the memories.

#AusOpen https://t.co/IAiSpri2MG

A winner of three Premier Mandatory and three Premier 5 (now WTA 1000 and WTA 500) titles, Wozniacki has earned over $35 million in her career. In terms of prize money, her most successful season came in 2018, where she won $6,657,719.

#4 Maria Sharapova

Career Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova is a former World No. 1 player who held on to that spot for 21 weeks. The five-time singles Slam champion won the French Open twice in her career. At the age of 17 years, she became the third-youngest player to win the Wimbledon title.

She had a win-rate of 79% in singles and won 36 tour level titles. 14 of these 36 titles won by Sharapova would be categorized as WTA 500 or WTA 1000 events today. Sharapova's most successful season was in 2012, where she won cumulative prize money of $6,508,296. She won over $38 million in prize money.

On top of the world.

10 years ago today at the 2012 French Open, Maria Sharapova completed her quest for the coveted Career Grand Slam, becoming one of the 10 women in the Open Era to achieve this feat.

She also returned to No.1 with her victory.

[📸: Matthew Stockman/Getty] https://t.co/WPzLlRSijq

#3 Simona Halep

Simona Halep won the French Open in 2018. The following year, she won her second Major at Wimbledon. A former World No. 1, Halep has won 23 singles titles in her career. She has won 8 WTA 1000 events and 13 other events that are categorized as WTA 500 and WTA 250.

In 2018 and 2019, Halep won $7,409,564 and $6,962,442 respectively. She is currently placed within the top 20 in the rankings and recently finished as a semifinalist at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. Halep has earned over $39 million in prize money throughout her career.

A STELLAR career so far @Simona_Halep!

🏆2 Grand Slam titles
📈64 weeks at No. 1
💵Nearly $38,000,000 in prize money

@ZipRecruiter https://t.co/rK3CdWCaxI

#2 Venus Williams

Venus Williams turned professional in 1994 and is still active on the WTA Tour. The elder of the Williams sisters has won seven singles Slams, which includes five titles at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is also a two-time runner-up at the Australian Open and a runner-up at the 2002 French Open. The 49-time tour-level singles title winner won the year-ending championships in 2008.

The year Venus Williams turned pro (1994):
-The TV show Friends just aired
-Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s president
-The OJ Simpson trial had started

She is 42 years old and still competing at this years’ @Wimbledon, a literal legend of the game https://t.co/v6R9BZVZps

Along with her younger sibling Serena Williams, Venus has won 14 doubles Slams. She has won eight other tour-level doubles titles and two mixed doubles Slams in 1998. In 2001, she led the prize money board with $2,662,610. The 42-year-old's most successful season in terms of prize money was in 2017, where she was the prize money leader for that season with $5,468,741. In her over 25 year career, Venus has won over $42 million in prize money.

#1 Serena Williams

Apart from accolades that she shares with Venus Williams in doubles at Slams, Serena Williams has won 23 singles Slams in her career. She has won 50 other singles titles and held the World No.1 position for 319 weeks. The American is a five-time winner of the year-ending championships.

A winner of two mixed doubles Slams, Williams is the all-time leader in terms of prize money won on the WTA Tour. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist has won 23 WTA 1000 events and 20 other events categorized as WTA 500 and WTA 250.

Serena Williams has won more career prize money than any other female tennis player https://t.co/5cWsBWr5xH

In 2013, Williams produced her best season, winning 78 of the 82 matches that she played that season. She became the first woman to breach the $10 million mark, winning a record $12,385,572 in a single season. Williams alone holds five spots in the top-10 list of most prize money earned in a single season and has won an astounding $94 million in prize money. In 2022, the 40-year-old lost her first-round match at Wimbledon against Harmony Tan.

As of July 2022, Iga Swiatek tops the chart for the season with $6.5 million followed by Wimbledon finalists Ons Jabeur ($3.4 million) and Elena Rybakina ($3.3 million).