Female Tennis Players Dominate Forbes' Top 10 Highest Paid List
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No word how much Sharapova's dog is worth.
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If becoming a top-flight athlete and well-known around the world isn’t enough motivation to become one of the best women’s tennis players on earth, here’s a little cherry on top.
You’ll get rich.
Forbes’ Magazine released its list of the Top 10 Highest-Paid Female Athletes late Wednesday, and not surprisingly, the list is littered with tennis players.
Russia’s Maria Sharapova leads the way, thanks to her big-time endorsement deals with Nike, Sony, Ericsson and Tiffany. Sharapova pulled down just $1 million in prize money last year, but added another $23.5 million in endorsements and appearances. 
Serena Williams is No. 2 on the list after earning $20.2 million in 2009. A record $6.5 million of that was in prize money thanks largely to her two Grand Slam titles. She and sister Venus invested some of their earnings by buying minority ownership shares in the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
Venus is third at $15.4 million, most of that coming in endorsements – Orego, Powerade, Tide and Wilson.
Fourth on the list is the first non-tennis female, NASCAR’s Danica Patrick, who is probably more famous for her GoDaddy.com commercials than her actual driving.
At No. 5 is figure skater Kim 
Yu-Na, who raked in $9.7 million in endorsements at the tender age of 19. She was the 2010 Olympic gold medalist.
No. 6 is golfer Annika Sorenstam, who made $8 million in 2009 despite retiring in 2008. She endorses Callaway, Lexus and Rolex, as well as making money from a winery, golf academy and doing golf course design.
Tennis players are back in the mix at No. 7 thanks to Ana Ivanovic and her $7.2 million earnings in 2009. She’s struggled on the court for a couple of years, but her web site is still big-time.
Current world No. 3 Jelena Jankovic is eighth at $5.3 million, thanks largely to her apparel and shoe deal with Anta sportswear.
Golfers Paula Creamer and Lorena Ochoa round out the Top 10
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Nick on
8/19/2010 11:33:58 AM
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