“People are Looking at me Differently”: Naomi Osaka on Becoming the Highest Paid Female Athlete

The two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has stormed into the quarterfinals of the Western and Southern Open 2020. Recently, Forbes published a report on the highest-paid female athletes in 2020, and Naomi Osaka has topped the list to become the highest-paid female athlete for the past year.

The Japanese edged past her arch-rival Serena Williams, who was second on the Forbes highest-paid female athletes list. Osaka has earned a whopping $37.4 million over the past year with $34 million coming from endorsements while $3.4 million came from prize money.

“It’s a bit weird, because I feel people are looking at me differently now. I mean, I’m weird, right? It’s kind of a fact. So people were always looking at me differently. But now people are kind of looking, looking,” said Osaka on topping Forbes’ highest-paid female athlete list.

The former World No. 1 Naomi has signed lucrative endorsements with some of the biggest brands like Nike, Nissin, Procter & Gamble, and many others. During May this year, Osaka was ranked No. 29 in Forbes annual list of the 100-top earning athletes in the world.

This was the first time since 2016 that two female athletes found a place on the 100-top earning athletes list. In 2016, Maria Sharapova appeared along with Serena Williams on the list.

WTA stars dominate the Forbes list

Nine WTA players have been featured in the top 10 spots on Forbes’s highest-paid female athlete. The US Open champion Bianca Andreescu is at the fifth spot while reigning Wimbledon champion Simona Halep is at the fourth spot.

The current World No.1 Ashleigh Barty is in the third-place, raking in $13.1 million in earnings. The 2017 Wimbledon champion, Garbine Muguruza, and World No. 5 Elina Svitolina also feature on the elusive list.

$3 million for US Open 2020 singles championship

The US 2020 has announced $53.4 million in total compensation with both the and women’s single champion getting the chance to earn $3 million as prize money. The US Open was the first Grand Slam to introduce equal gender pay.