Naomi Osaka certainly didn’t experience the best season of her career on the WTA Tour but she left her mark on a decidedly positive factor. The young Japanese star has hardly ever been a protagonist during the year 2022 as a professional tennis player, only obtaining an important final at the 1000 in Miami.
The reasons for this rather subdued performance of the Japanese player can be attributed to the mental health problems that have conditioned her a lot in the recent past, and to some bad injuries of hers, preventing her from being able to express herself at the best level.
The last victory achieved by the native of Osaka was won on the court at the WTA 500 in San Jose on August 3rd, against the Chinese Zheng Qinwen. Then only defeats in Toronto (retirement in the second set of the debut match due to back pain), Cincinnati, at the US Open and at the Japan Open, in which she won a match due to withdrawal after only one game.
Naomi Osaka beyond tennis: this is how she earns so much from sponsors
However, Naomi Osaka can enjoy an incredible record again. According to the ranking drawn up by Forbes, the Japanese was also the highest paid female athlete in the world in 2022.
51.1 million dollars the stellar figure reached by Naomi Osaka, thanks above all to the contribution of the many sponsors, given the few significant results obtained on the field. In second position the queen Serena Williams, who closed her last season as a professional tennis player on the podium with 41.3 million dollars.
Third place (with 20 million) for the skier Eileen Gu. Tennis also occupies the places just below the podium: Emma Raducanu, finalist at the US Open 2021, is fourth, while Iga Swaitek is fifth thanks also to the prize money collected in the various tournaments won.
Top ten also for Venus Williams (sixth), the Americans Coco Gauff (seventh) and Jessica Pegula (ninth). On this ranking, Iga Swiatek said: “I’m happy to be in that ranking. Money isn’t my motivation but the difficult thing is that I really earned it on the pitch.
The other players mostly earned them through sponsorships, so there’s a difference. I feel like I could still expand the business a little bit.”
