TheCable

Serena Williams, world number one, was crowned 2015 world champion by ITF on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old was also named Sports Illustrated person of the year, fighting off competition from eleven other contenders including Usain Bolt, Novak Djokovic, Steph Curry and Lionel Messi.

She was one of four women listed amongst eight men for the honour.

The 21-time grand slam winner and second leading overall, behind Steffi Graf with just one major in between them, got more honours in the year than her other colleagues in the game and sport in total.

Many would expect that the number of titles won – five championships including the Australian Open, Wimbledon, French Open, Miami Open and the Cincinnati masters – would also increase her earnings astronomically.

With year-ending earning estimated at $24.6m – tournament payouts worth $11.6m and endorsements of $13m – Serena falls short of the top earners in sports for the year.

The men sit atop the list with Williams’ bitter rival and world number four, Maria Sharapova, being the only woman in the top 30.

Sharapova beats her to the top of highest earning female athlete with $29.7m total out of which $6.7m is payout from tournaments appeared in, and $26m in endorsements.

On a broader scale, Serena is ranked 47 on Forbes list of highest earning athletes, 21 places behind Sharapova who she has beaten sixteen times in their meetings with the most recent being the 2015 Australian Open final.

Serena, however, ends the year 2015 as the highest paid female tennis player ever on the WTA list.

She sits on number one with a total earning of $74,083,421 in a career that has spanned 20 years since she turned pro in 1995.

WTA Prize money leaders

Serena Williams, US – $74,083,421

Maria Sharapova, Russia – $36,484,486

Venus Williams, US – $32,608,015

Victoria Azarenka, Belarus – $25,593,363

Kim Clijsters, Belgium – $24,442,340

Martina Hingis, Switzerland – $22,305,214

Lindsay Davenport, US – $22,166,338

Steffi Graf, Germany – $21,895,277

Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland – $21,777,713

Martina Navratilova, US – $21,626,089