@athlete: Every number on this list was built twice. Once on the court, in the years before anyone was watching. Then again off it, from nothing, because the cheque for winning was never going to be enough on its own. None of these women were handed an audience. They went and found one. Prize money arrives when you win. A following arrives when people decide you are worth their time, and that is harder to earn and far harder to lose. Every brand on every sleeve here started as someone refusing to wait for the sport to catch up with them. Between them the top 20 earned 293 million dollars last year. Up 13% on the year before. Not one of them waited to be given it. Follow @ATHLETE for more.

ATHLETE

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Sunday 18 October 2026 13:37:12 GMT