PV Sindhu is now in the top 10 highest paid female athletes in the world, according to an annual list published by Forbes. Sindhu grabbed the seventh spot and is the only Indian athlete in the top 10 list, mostly dominated by tennis players.
After Sindhu stole the show at Rio Olympics in Brazil in 2016, her career graph and stock has only gone up. She bagged a Silver in badminton in 2016 Summer Olympics and became the face of badminton in India.
According to Forbes, Sindhu earned a whopping $8.5 billion last year.?
Retired race car driver Danica Patrick with $7.5 million is the non-tennis player in the top 10 list. Danica is the ninth spot.
Twenty-three times Grand Slam Champion Serene Williams is the highest paid female athlete in the world. Serena is leading the list for the third consecutive year.?
Serena returned to competition in March after giving birth to a daughter last September. She earned $62,000 from games and made $18.1 million from an endorsement portfolio.
The top 10 highest earning female athletes earned $105 million in total from June 2017 to June 2018.
The top 10 and their total earnings
1. Serena Williams (tennis) - $18.1 million
2. Caroline Wozniacki (tennis) - $13 million
3. Sloane Stephens (tennis) - $11.2 million
4. Garbine Muguruza (tennis) - $11 million
5. Maria Sharapova (tennis) - $10.5 million
6. Venus Williams (tennis) - $10.2 million
7. PV Sindhu (badminton) - $8.5 million
8. Simona Halep (tennis) - $7.7 million
9. Danica Patrick (race car driving) - $7.5 million
10. ? Angelique Kerber (tennis) - $7 million
The total earnings of top 10 athletes are down by 4 per cent from last year and 28 per cent from five years ago.