What a turnaround of fortunes it’s been for Coco Gauff in 2024 – quite literally. In the year’s first half, she was struggling with form, taking early exits from tournaments like the Wimbledon and US Open. But the second half saw her getting back the winning momentum, clinching titles at the China Open and then the WTA Finals trophy. Apart from praising words, the $4.8 million winner’s paycheck at Riyadh helped her to wrap the season with an astonishing annual income of over $30 million. What makes this situation even more interesting is a fascinating Roger Federer connection!

On Wednesday, it was revealed that Coco was the highest paid female athlete of 2024, in a list of top 10, according to Sportico. This season, she minted more than $30 million through her participation in WTA events as well as endorsement deals. In a nutshell, she took $9.4 million in prize money and $21 million through endorsements.

For the unversed, she’s associated with 11 brands as per Forbes’ list from earlier this year. The line-up includes the likes of Carol’s Daughter, Naked Brand Juices, Fanatics, and American Eagle. Now, in a post on X, dated December 5, popular business analyst and investor Joe Pompliano mentioned that Coco is represented by the same company, Team8, that Federer’s associated with. Team8 is an Ohio-based PR agency, run by Tony Godsick. Not to mention that he also manages the Swiss Maestro. However, the company’s connection with Federer runs deeper than that. How?

In 2013, Team8 was originally founded by Federer himself, in collaboration with Godsick, Ian McKinnon and Dirk Ziff. So how did Coco come into this equation? Well, her association with Team8 has been there since late 2017, almost six months before she turned pro in 2018.

While Gauff has pocketed a huge cash amount in 2024, it really took her time to figure out what to do with so much money. At least that was the case last month. Especially when she realized how much she made at Riyadh after lifting up the WTA Finals trophy.

When Coco Gauff gave an amusing reaction to her jackpot win in Riyadh

Coco Gauff received a paycheck of $4,805,000 for her week in Riyadh after she defeated China’s Qinwen Zheng in the final. It’s the biggest prize money given in any women’s tennis tournament in history. Of course, she also couldn’t believe it at first. In an official interview, the 20-year-old said,

“I didn’t know, like I knew it was some money, but I didn’t know that much. Oh gosh, I hope I’m like one of the highest-paid female tennis players this year or athletes so that’ll be exciting. I wanted to win this for myself. I didn’t know that it was the biggest prize cheque on this tour.” Expressing confusion on what to do with such a large amount of cash prize, she said,

“How will I treat myself? I don’t know. I have bought a house and I don’t really know what else I want other than that. I am going to a musical festival next week. I am not someone who likes to spend a lot of money, to be honest. I don’t know what I will do with it. That’s a lot of money!”

It’s worth noting that Coco was also the highest earning female athlete last year, according to Sportico’s list. This season, she’s succeeded in repeating the milestone-over $7m from her $22.7 million in 2023. It will be interesting to see if she can complete her hat-trick in 2025. Do you think she will end up being the top-earning female player in the next season too? Let us know in the comments below.