Which Women Earned the Most Prize Money in 2024?

The 2024 WTA Tour season has come to an end. The last tournament concluded this past week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Coco Gauff captured the WTA Finals for the first time in her young career. The tournament committed a record prize money pool–giving Gauff the single-highest payday in women’s tennis history–which went a long way in determining the Top 10 highest earners this season. On that note, let us take a closer look at the women who made the most in prize money in 2024. These numbers, of course, don’t include what these players get from off-course endorsements, which can often dwarf even the biggest tournament paycheck.

The WTA’s Highest Prize Money Earners In 2024

#10. Emma Navarro ($2,751,968)

Emma Navarro’s career-best season saw her stock skyrocket in the WTA rankings and prize money chart. The 23-year-old finished the year with 54 match wins across all levels. She took her spot in the world’s Top 10, sitting at a personal best ranking of No. 8. Navarro received $2,751,968, with most of her earnings coming from deep runs at Grand Slam tournaments. She was a semifinalist at the US Open and made the second week of the French Open and Wimbledon.

#9. Elise Mertens ($2,783,414)

Elise Mertens is the only player currently outside the Top 10 of the WTA rankings who has made this list. That is because the Belgian’s total prize money includes her success in doubles. Mertens made seven figures in both singles and doubles in 2024, falling just shy of the $3 million mark.

#8. Elena Rybakina ($3,876,915)

Elena Rybakina only played in 15 tournaments this season as she struggled with health issues. However, the 25-year-old Kazakhstani still grew richer by a whopping $3,876,915 in prize money, the bulk of which came from her semifinal run at Wimbledon and the lucrative WTA Finals.

#7. Jessica Pegula ($4,186,622)

Jessica Pegula played in 17 WTA tournaments this year. Like Rybakina, she struggled with injuries for a few months during the season and also made a coaching change. It took her a while before she could rack up good results in the second half of the season. She banked slightly over $4 million. It was a year she successfully retained her Canadian Open title and made her first Grand Slam final at the US Open.

#6. Barbora Krejcikova ($4,770,340)

Krejcikova was the most unexpected Grand Slam winner in the 2024 season. She became the second-lowest-ranked woman to win Wimbledon. It was the highlight of a torrid season where she dealt with a serious back injury and severe flu. Success at SW19 earned her spot in the WTA Finals, where she would finish as a semifinalist. She received almost $5 million in prize money playing in just 37 matches in singles.

#5. Qinwen Zheng ($5,559,555)

There were plenty of highs for Qinwen Zheng this season that she will quickly forget, letting the WTA Finals title slip from her grasp. Zheng emulated her childhood idol Li Na in headlining a Grand Slam final at this year’s Australian Open (she lost to Sabalenka). She won three titles, including a second career WTA 500 title (Tokyo) and an Olympic Gold Medal. Finishing the season with three successive podiums is a remarkable achievement, and she was handsomely rewarded for her efforts to the tune of $5.5 million.

#4. Jasmine Paolini ($5,820,798)

Jasmine Paolini checked off the self-improvement grid during the 2024 season. In a sport traditionally dominated by younger stars, Paolini demonstrated that it is never too late to develop as a player in their late 20s and attain success. Paolini’s career breakthrough at 28 yielded a maiden WTA 1000 title (Dubai), two Grand Slam finals (French Open and Wimbledon), and a place in the world’s Top 10. She was also an Olympic Gold Medalist in doubles, although that didn’t count as part of her yearly prize money which fell just short of $6 million.

#3. Iga Swiatek ($8,550,693)

For the last two years, Swiatek has topped this list quite comfortably, but that’s not the case in 2024. Regardless, she still took home over $8 million in prize money after another Grand Slam-winning season. She bagged her fourth French Open title in June and became Poland’s first-ever tennis medalist at the Olympic Games (she won Bronze).

#2. Coco Gauff ($9,353,847)

Before the month started, Gauff was outside the top three of the highest-earning women in 2024. But a spectacular run to the title at the WTA Finals thrust her name into the top two. The colossal record prize money for a champion at the season-ending championships in Riyadh was the difference maker. Gauff made history as the winner of the largest payout in women’s professional tennis at the season finale. She doubled her season’s prize money by earning a record $4.8 million from the tournament.

#1. Aryna Sabalenka ($9,729,260)

There was only one name who could top this list, and it was Aryna Sabalenka. The WTA’s year-end World No. 1 won two Grand Slams, accounting for over half of her earnings. Title wins in Cincinnati and Wuhan, and a semifinal finish at the WTA Finals cemented her spot at the top of the prize money leaderboard.