Japan’s Naomi Osaka £30.7m in earnings has surpassed Serena Williams as the world’s highest paid female athlete within a 12 month period.
The earnings rake in from prize money and endorsements according to Forbes.
Osaka earned £1.15m more than American great Williams who lead the list for the last four years.
Another tennis star, Maria Sharapova previously held the record for 12-month earnings for a female athlete, having made £24.4 million(current rate) in 2015.
Female tennis players have always topped the leaderboard on Forbes’s women’s list since 1990 with either Williams or Russian Sharapova dominating since 2004.
Osaka burst into the spotlight by creating an upset in the 2018 US Open final, against Serena, the highly-controversial match in which Williams was given three code violations by the umpire.
The Japanese went on to win another Grand Slam, the 2019 Australian Open, although her form has since dropped and which has seen her fallen from world number one to 10th on the WTA rankings.
Bookmakers 