Sofia Kenin, Naomi Osaka and Others Leave Serena Williams Behind in On-Court Earnings in 2020

The 2020 WTA season finally ended a few weeks ago. It was a troubled season as the coronavirus pandemic stopped all tennis around the world for over six months. Unfortunately, the prize money earnings halved for many players as there were fewer tournaments and the tournaments that happened had their prize money reduced. Thus, we have a new leader in prize money earnings with Sofia Kenin leading and leaving behind Serena Williams.

Serena Williams is out of the top 10; Sofia Kenin and Naomi Osaka lead the list

The major omission from the top 10 is Serena Williams with earnings of $1,091,151. Serena had a poor season by her standards and she had to end her 2020 early because of injury.

Kenin had a breakthrough year as she won her first Grand Slam at the Australian Open. Further, she reached the French Open final as well. These big results fetched her a hefty purse of $4,302,970.

Trailing well below Sofia Kenin is Naomi Osaka. The Japanese player is almost a million dollars behind Kenin.

Like Kenin, most of her earnings came from her Grand Slam triumph. Osaka ended the year with $3,352,755 out of which she earned 3,000,000 from her US Open victory.

French Open 2020 winner Iga Swiatek ahead of the likes of Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova

The third Grand Slam winner of the season, Iga Swiatek, sits comfortably at the third spot in the list. Iga delivered a pleasant surprise with her sudden rise to fame at the French Open.

Without losing a set, she won her first Grand Slam. Swiatek accumulated $2,261,213 in prize money and won $1,768468 from her French Open triumph.

The Belarusian, Victoria Azarenka , whose best season result was the US Open final, sits at the fourth spot. It was a comeback season for Azarenka as she made her first major final since 2013. Azarenka also won the Cincinnati Masters, accumulating prize money earnings of $1,991,783.

Just trailing Azarenka is Garbine Muguruza who finished the season with $1,942,072 in the bank. Most of her earnings were from the Australian Open where she reached the finals and received $1,430,655.

Next up is Simona Halep who finished the season with the most titles. She won three titles and often found herself in the latter stages of most tournaments. Despite that, she couldn’t win a Grand Slam but had a healthy earning of $1,937,890.

Petra Kvitova comes next with $1,505,967, and her best performance was the semifinal appearance at French Open. A surprise in the top 10 list was Jennifer Brady with prize money earnings of $1,319,956.

Aryna Sabalenka is ninth in the list of top earners in 2020 with a purse of $1,239,684. She also won the joint-most titles in 2020 with three.

And finishing the top 10 is Elise Mertens. She won a title in doubles and reached two finals in singles, earning $1,123,558.

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