Aryna Sabalenka‘s US Open triumph three weeks ago was one of the most emotional moments of her career. It also led to the 26-year-old rising further on the list of WTA career prize money leaders.
Sabalenka had come so close at the US Open multiple times, meaning her triumph at Flushing Meadows this year meant even more to her than it otherwise would have.
The Belarusian lost two semifinals in three sets in 2021 and 2022 to Leylah Fernandez and Iga Swiatek. She then lost the final in 2023 despite winning the first set against Coco Gauff, who did not have to play her best tennis to beat Sabalenka.
However, there was no denying her this year. She defeated Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 in a high-quality final. Pegula played better than Gauff did in the 2023 final and will probably feel unfortunate.
Sabalenka has reason to stay motivated until the end of the season. She could still overtake Iga Swiatek and finish the year as the world No. 1 for the first time in her career after coming close to doing it last season.
Swiatek’s withdrawal from the China Open has improved her chances of achieving that. The Pole was one of several top players to pull out of the penultimate WTA 1000 tournament of 2024.
That gives Sabalenka an ideal chance to close the gap to Swiatek at No. 1. She sealed her 13th consecutive win by easily winning her first-round match in Beijing, looking particularly good in the second set.
Sabalenka said before the tournament that she was not trying to focus on the No. 1 ranking despite Swiatek’s withdrawal, but she must be aware of how important a deep run at the China Open could be for her chances.
Who wins the race for the year-end No. 1 spot remains to be seen, but Sabalenka will undoubtedly end the year in the Top 10 on the list of WTA career prize money leaders, entering the top 10 after the US Open.
Sabalenka overtook Agnieszka Radwanska on the list. The former Wimbledon champion, now 11th on the list, is retired. Karolina Pliskova, in 12th, is still playing but is over $2 million behind Sabalenka, a gap she will almost certainly not close.
Swiatek is 9th on the list. She has earned $32,106,991 in prize money compared to Sabalenka’s $28,361,708. That is a decent gap, but Sabalenka still has a lot of work to do to overtake the four-time French Open champion.
Simona Halep is No. 3 on the list with $40,227,773 earned, while Venus Williams is second with $42,648,578. Halep might have surpassed Venus if she had not been away from tennis for so long after her doping suspension.
However, no player is anywhere close to matching Serena Williams‘ total. She earned an extraordinary $94,816,730 during her illustrious career that included 23 Grand Slam singles titles.
Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki, and the recently retired Angelique Kerber are the other players in the Top 10 in WTA career prize money earned.
Leave a Reply