37-Year-Old Megan Rapinoe Once Surpassed the Likes of Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka to Become the Most-Talked About Athlete

For the last few years, two women’s tennis players Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka have been making headlines in terms of their popularity and earnings off the court. However, in 2019, soccer player Megan Rapinoe topped the list of most popular athletes beating the likes of Serena, Osaka, and others.

Notably, during that period, the United States women’s national soccer team (USWNT) created history by winning the soccer world cup in 2019 for a consecutive time.

Megan Rapinoe beat Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka

According to Twitter Data, Megan Rapinoe became the most talked about female athlete in 2019. She became a global star after helping her national soccer team win the world cup in France that year; in the final, USWNT beat the Netherlands by 2-0 to clinch the world cup.

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According to Twitter statistics, Rapinoe’s name was discussed the most in 2019. The 23-time Grand Slam champion, Serena Williams, was at the no.2 spot. The star tennis player also topped Forbes’ highest-paid female athletes that year. As a tennis player, she earned around $4.2 million from various tournaments. Apart from that, she earned around $25 million from various endorsements and brand deals, making it almost $30 million.

The 4-time Grand Slam champion, Naomi Osaka was in the third position on the list. Apart from her, the former Russian tennis player, Maria Sharapova was also on the list. Notably, in 2022, Osaka became the highest-earning female athlete, beating Serena and others. She earned around $59.2 million and most of the earnings came from endorsement deals. Whereas, Serena Williams earned around $45.3 million.

Osaka paid tribute to Serena before the US Open 2022

As Serena decided to hang up her racket after the 3rd round loss at the US Open, many current and former tennis players paid tribute to the great champion. Before the start of the US Open, Naomi Osaka opened up about Serena‘s influence on her career.

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“I wouldn’t be here without Serena, Venus, her whole family. I’m, like, very thankful to her. I also was trying to figure out how to sum it into words. I honestly think that she’s, like, the biggest force in the sport,” Osaka said. Notably, during the Cincinnati Masters, she watched Serena’s match from the stands. As she was clapping, the camera caught her, which became a hilarious incident.

Nevertheless, she always showed massive respect for Serena and idolized her from an early age. In the 2018 US Open final, she beat her idol in the final to win the first Grand Slam title of her career.