‘It’s the currency that makes the world go round’. Well established, and well-known, but, hard to manifest unless you’re looking to get a serious jump on your dreams. Coco Gauff and Qinwen Zheng are two such entities who brought the unimaginable to life. With an extensive record on the WTA, years after putting blood, sweat, and tears into reaching the ‘superstar’ spotlight, the duo is set for a blockbuster at the WTA Finals and, with it, due for a big winners’ payday; notably the highest in the history of women’s tennis.

By making the summit clash going 2-1 in round-robin play, both stars have minted $2.5M in prize money already. On Saturday, the champion stands to cash in a staggering total of $4,805,000. Bonkers, right? Wait till you realize that this won’t be the duo’s first rodeo pocketing a lucrative amount as such. Their career earnings speak volumes.

Thanks to Gauff’s triumphs on the Grand Slam stage, including a singles title at the US Open in 2023 and a doubles feat at the season’s French Open, the American holds a $7.1 M credit. Moreover, her off-court earnings are nearly three-folds of that figure. After renewing her contract with sponsor ‘New Balance’ in 2022, the young talent’s total earnings from endorsements were valued at $20 M as of 2024 according to Forbes. She ranks #3 on the ‘World’s Highest Paid Tennis Players’ for the year, but, is that a match for Qinwen’s purse?

To much amazement, it is. Gauff’s riches trump the Chinese star by a healthy mile. According to updates gathered from the WTA, the Olympic gold medalist has whipped out $4.7M in prize money, despite her net worth totaling $3M. While Qinwen enjoys lucrative endorsements from the likes of Nike, Gatorade, and Wilson, it is tricky to calculate her exact off-court earnings.

Staying on course, Gauff seldom shies from candidly expressing her thoughts. Only this time, the former World No. 2 talked about achieving pay equality for women in tennis moments after becoming the youngest player after Caroline Wozniacki in 2010 to reach the WTA Finals summit clash.

Coco Gauff believes tennis can champion pay equality in all sports

American sensation Coco Gauff is all for women’s equality. So is the WTA. The tour vowed to achieve equal pay across their tennis calendar by 2033, all while achieving the same goal on the 500 and 1000-level events by 2027. After downing Belarusian rival and top seed Aryna Sabalenka in a thriller semifinal in Riyadh, Gauff lent her take on the gender pay disparity.

During a post-match presser, the 20-year-old highlighted “The biggest thing is that in most sports in the world, people watch the men’s game more than the women’s. I think we continue to bring fans. The problem is also that we have to market women’s sports better, market ourselves better. If we continue to invest in women’s sports, then it will profit almost the same as the men, and garner equal pay. Hopefully, tennis can be the leader of that and fiddle down into other sports, as well.”

Gauff’s change in her coaching camp has only started to showcase its strengths. After claiming a place in the championship round of the year-end event for the first time, Gauff will lock horns with Chinese rival Qinwen on Saturday, October 9.