Li Na is now by far the richest tennis player! Maria Sharapova was previously the highest, earning over $24 million each year in prizemoney and endorsements. Now, Li Na has over $42 million on endorsement contracts.
“We could do five more endorsement deals but she just doesn’t have the time,” said Eisenbud, a vice president at Coral Gables, Florida-based IMG Tennis who signed Li in November 2009. “It’s incredible.”
Since winning the French Open, Li Na has signed contracts with Daimler and Chinese insurance company Taikang Life Insurance Co.
“It was hard to set the price” after Li’s triumph in Paris, Eisenbud said. “We had to change it a lot.”
There is a very interesting article over at PostGame that showcases the top 5 highest paid female athletes. Out of the top 5 there are 4 tennis players in the list!
Thus, if your a female and you want to earn a lot of money from sport, then Tennis is the game for you.
Read the full article here.
Name: Ana Ivanović
Country: Serbia
Birthdate: November 6, 1987
Birthplace: Belgrade, Serbia then SFR Yugoslavia
Residence: Basel, Switzerland
Plays: Right-handed with a double handed backhand
Height: 186 cm or 6ft 1in
Website: www.anaivanovic.com
Scouting: Ana Ivanovic is one of most promosing tennis players in the world, but she has only really lived up to expectation once and that was the 2008 French Open in which she was the champion. Apart from that Ana has a great serve and hands around the court. She has a very strong forehand and likes to play from the back of the court as much as possible. Her return of serve is also quite strong and she really going for the first shot.
However, she still seems to lack a fair bit of consistency in terms of days in days out. Thus, some days she can turn up on top form and the next day she doesnt even turn up. Additionally, Ana doesnt really seem comfortable when moving forward into the court and seems even more tentative when it comes to volleying.
Name: Maria Yuryevna Sharapova
Country: Russia
Birthdate: April 19, 1987
Birthplace: Nyagan, Soviet Union
Residence: Bradenton, Florida, U.S.
Plays: Right-handed with a double handed backhand
Height: 188 cm or 6ft 2in
Website: www.mariasharapova.com
Scouting: What can you say about Maria Sharapova? Maria has some of the best ground strokes in the game and on a good day is pretty much unbeatable from the baseline. Both her forehand and backhands have great power and she loves to really go for her shots.
Maria’s first serve is top notch and she really likes to hit it hard, but this can also lead to not a very high first serve percentage. However, her second serve is the opposite, its quite weak and doesnt really do too much. When tired or tight Maria tends to really slow down her second serve which either ends up in double faults or falls short in the court.
Approaching is a very strong point for Maria as her ground strokes lay a good path to net. However, when at net she isnt too assured of herself. Normally, her racquet head drops which causes her to lose control and try to feel the ball over the net instead of moving forward into it.
Maria also plays a very slow game so be prepared to wait and take your time.
