Coco Gauff, 19, Emerges As Highest Paid Female Athlete Of 2023

Sports' latest prodigy, American tennis player Coco Gauff, has emerged as the highest-paid female athlete of the year at just the age of 19. According to the ranking released by Sportico, Gauff has a net worth of $22.7 million from winning prize money and endorsements. Gauff winning the first spot on the list comes soon after she became this year's, first US Open finalist. Sportico mentioned that the spot was grabbed by noted sportspersons like Serena Williams and Noami Osaka in the last few years.

In this year's US Open women's singles finals, Gauff played against Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus and swept the trophy. She became the first American teenager to win the US Opens, gathering her a spot as the world No. 3 in Tennis. The Sportico ranking shows that tennis has been the most lucrative sport for female sportspersons, as seven of the top 10 richest athletes play tennis.

Coco Gauff

Born Cori Dionne Gauff in 2004, Coco Gauff's tennis journey began when she started playing the sport at the tender age of six. She first became a notable player in the world of tennis when she beat Venus Williams, one of her idols, at Wimbledon in 2019- she was just 15 years old.

According to the official WTA website, she won her maiden WTA titles at Linz in 2019, and reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in 2021. She qualified for the American national team being sent to participate in the Tokyo Olympics of 2021, and became the youngest Grand Slam quarterfinalist in 15 years in the same year, after beating tennis veteran Ons Jabeur.

Gauff At 2023's US Open

This year, Gauff took the US Open by storm. Two of her most notable matches are when she beat Germany's Laura Siegemund early on in the tournament and beat Karolina Muchova to advance into the US Open finals. Both matches have been controversial for the player- Siegemund's prolonged preparations before Gauff's every serve had her furious at the delay and in her semifinal against Muchova, an environmental activist protested by glueing their feet to the concrete of the Arthur Ashe stadium.

She won the final match against world No. 2, Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka. This was Gauff's first Major singles titles she became the first American teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams in 1999. As a result, she reached world No. 3 in the rankings on 11 September 2023.

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