It has been time since we last saw Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka in action on the court. While the former officially retired in 2022 and gave birth to her second daughter earlier this year, the latter became a first-time mother this year and has been away from the tennis scene. The two were the flagbearers as far as women’s tennis was concerned, and their absence has not gone unnoticed.

With no Williams and Osaka, young stars like Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek have stepped up. However, they have big shoes to fill and the gap seems impossible to bridge.

Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka’s absence affects women’s sporting ecosystem

Female tennis athletes have always been one of the better-paid players as compared to the other female sports. For instance, in 2022, Osaka was the highest-paid female athlete after earning $49 million from prize winnings. Williams closely followed her in second place with $41 million in earnings.

However, a year later the situation has completely changed. Both Williams and Osaka have been away from the action on and off the court, leading Osaka to drop to the fifth position. Serena Williams doesn’t even feature in the top 10. The list is instead headed by Coco Gauff, who earned $22.7 million in the year 2023.

What is worthwhile to note is that the highest-earning sum has dropped from $49 million to $22.7 million. It is more than double the drop as the women’s sporting world has taken a serious hit in earnings with the absence of the legends.

On the other hand, male players continue to rake in huge sums. Soccer legend, Cristiano Ronaldo, earned more than 6 times of the highest-paid female player. Other soccer stars like Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe also earned massive sums.

Read More: Whopping $22.7 Million Bounty Sees Coco Gauff Trump Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka as She Tops the Prestigious Charts for the Year

Going down the tennis rankings chart, other female players are facing a serious financial crunch due to hefty expenses. Katerina Stresnakova and Madison Sieg ranked outside the top 100 in the world, have also talked about their struggles.

WTA players face financial difficulties

Earlier this year, a post went viral where lower-ranked female players talked about their sacrifices after facing financial difficulties. Their earnings were far lower than the expenses and the absence of sponsors meant that this issue wasn’t solved.

Katerina Stresnakova, world number 457 said, “This year so far, I’ve made $4947 in earnings, and I’ve spent about $10998. It’s without a coach because I can’t afford it.” Further, another player outside the top 100, Madison Sieg revealed, “I’ve spent about 25,000 dollars, and I’ve made about $3993 without a coach. It’s probably more.”

It is high time the women’s sporting bodies take up this matter before the situation worsens. Already, we are seeing signs of danger and the future of women’s sports will highly depend upon the good financial structure in place.

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