Coco Gauff’s $23 Million Hard Work Fails to Pay Dividends as She Misses Out on a Spot in Prestigious Athletes List

Coco Gauff’s amazing journey in the 2023 season gained her remarkable wins, glorious titles, and a huge amount of prize money. While the number was big enough to be noticed, it became a collective success for the whole tennis world as she became the highest-earning female athlete of the year. However, she missed out on an important list.

Despite touching an impressive $23 million mark, Gauff found herself outside the top 100 list of highest-earning athletes worldwide. ‘Sportico’s’ 2023 top ‘100 Highest-Paid Athletes in the World’ list included players from eight sports and 25 countries. Collectively, they earned an estimated $5.4 billion in total income in 2023. This incorporated $4.2 billion in salary and prize money and $1.2 billion off-court/field. So, who topped the list?

Cristiano Ronaldo was number 1 with total earnings of $275M, out of which $215M was from his salary and $60M from endorsements. Golfer Jon Rahm was second on the list, whereas Lionel Messi and LeBron James were third and fourth, respectively. Kylian Mbappé was fifth. Interestingly, no woman made it to the prestigious list. So, what was the difference between the highest-earning female athlete Coco Gauff, and the list’s number 100 player? Well, quite a lot.

Derek Carr from the New Orleans Saints was last on the list. His total earnings for 2023 were $32.5M, while Gauff was at $25M. That’s a big difference.

Coco Gauff’s journey has been rewarded with great numbers throughout, though. Her victory at the US Open 2023 alone gave her a huge $3 million prize. While these numbers might seem to be big in the women’s tennis scenario, the WTA athletes are still way behind touching the competitive levels worldwide. Although Coco Gauff’s earnings surely made her name worth remembering, she still couldn’t add her name to the list of timeless tennis legends like Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and more.

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Women tennis players are still far away from the list of top earners

The uneven earnings between male and female athletes have been a topic of concern in the world of tennis for a long time. Despite the efforts of revolutionary figures like Billie Jean King, the top earners list has been more inclined towards male athletes over the past decade.

Since 2010, only a few names from the WTA have gained significant spots in the list of top earners. With legends like Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Li Na, and Naomi Osaka featured in the top spots, the list has been empty ever since they left their positions. In 2022, Osaka made it to the top 100 highest-paid athletes list. She stood at number 20 with $53.2 M. Serena Williams too made it to the 2022 list at number 52 with $35.3M.

Both athletes also made it to the list in 2021, standing at number 15 and 44 respectively, with $55.2M and $35.5 M in earnings. While all others except Naomi Osaka have hung their rackets for good, it still remains to be seen if any other names will be seen in the years ahead. What do you think?

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