Coco Gauff is preparing to experience a new enthusiastic season, after the successes obtained this year during the Summer on the North-American hard-courts. The young American star delighted the Flushing Meadows crowd, triumphing at the US Open and winning the first Slam of her early career.
Thanks to achievements she got this year, Coco was included in PEOPLE’s 25 Most Intriguing People of the Year list. In some funny Instagram stories, Gauff said she doesn’t consider herself intriguing, because she simply likes crocheting, watching anime and to play Fortnite!
But that’s not the only honor: Gauff is also the richest sportswoman of 2023!
The 19-year-old American concluded the season by reaching her best ranking, winning her first Slam, becoming the athlete with the highest earnings, considering sponsorships and brands, with $22.7 million.
In this special ranking, tennis is the clearly most represented and richest sport, given that seven of the top 10 athletes with the highest earnings are tennis players. Behind Gauff, we find world number 1 Iga Swiatek. The Pole earned $21.9 million in 2023.
The other tennis players in the ranking are Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka, Slam winners who, despite having experienced difficult seasons, continue to represent two important faces in terms of sponsorships and advertising (the former earned 16.2 million dollars, the latter 15 Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula, who respectively occupy the second, fourth and fifth positions in the world rankings, are added to this list, with earnings from 12 to 9 million.
The only three sportswomen not present in the ranking who practice a sport other than tennis are the skier Eileen Gu, third with 20 million, the gymnast Simone Biles and the golfer Nelly Korda, sister of the tennis player Sebastian.
The peak of Coco’s season came in the second half of the year, winning the titles in Washington, Cincinnati and winning the first Slam title of her career at the US Open, right in her home major. The extraordinary season of the world number three has allowed her to become the highest paid woman in the sports industry.