Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu is the seventh highest paid female athlete in the world as per a top 10 list published by Forbes, with Serena Williams topping the charts for the third year running.

Sindhu ($8.5 million) and retired race car driver Danica Patrick ($7.5 million) were the only non-tennis players to crack the top 10, filling up the seventh and ninth spots, respectively.

The 23-time grand slam champion, Williams, earned $18.1 million in endorsements and topped the list for a third straight year despite not playing competitively for 14 months after revealing in January 2017 that she was pregnant with her first child.

Williams made twice as much off the court than any other female athlete, while only 16 male athletes have earned more than Williams over the past 12 months from sponsorships.

Dane Caroline Wozniacki, who captured her maiden grand slam title at this year’s Australian Open, was second on the list with combined earnings of ($13 million) while reigning US Open champion Sloane Stephens ($11.2 million) was third.

The top 10 females earned a combined $105 million from June 2017 to June 2018 -- down four percent from last year and 28 percent from five years ago. Maria Sharapova's off-the-court income, meanwhile, is still 50 percent down as the fallout from her 16-month suspension for doping continues.

In June, Forbes issued a ranking of the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes and it did not feature a woman.

Serena Williams, who was the only woman on the list the previous year, dropped out of the chart while taking time off to have a baby.

(With inputs from Reuters)

First Published:Aug 22, 2018 7:31 PM IST