World No. 2 Iga Swiatek moved ahead of former WTA No. 1 Naomi Osaka in career prize money earnings after winning her China Open last Sunday.
Swiatek returned to the winners’ circle in style, ending the 16-match winning streak of freshly minted US Open champion Coco Gauff en route to her first WTA 1000 title of the season.
During the week, the Polish superstar relinquished just one set and outplayed Liudmila Samsonova for the loss of four games in the final. Swiatek also left the Chinese capital as the WTA’s Tour leader in titles won this season with five, at least one clear of Gauff, who owns four titles.
Tearful Swiatek beats Samonova in China Open final to lift 5th title of the seasonSamsonova to meet Swiatek in China Open finalSwiatek into China Open final By virtue of winning the China Open, one of the mandatory WTA 1000 tournaments on the calendar, Swiatek received a paycheck amounting to $1,324,000.
The 22-year-old’s career earnings took her ahead of Naomi Osaka (currently on a hiatus and due to rejoin the Tour in 2024) into 20th spot on the list with an impressive total of $21,514,763. She is not far off from eclipsing tennis legends Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf.
Swiatek’s yearly earnings crossed the $6 million mark and surpassed Gauff in second place in the WTA prize money leaderboard of 2023, which is headed by Aryna Sabalenka. However, Swiatek’s total of $6,779,686 earned this season is still a long way off from her 2022 total of $9,875,525.
With just one more tournament to play for, it is impossible that Swiatek will reach that number. But it has been another great year for the Pole who has faced some very uncertain times on the court and still managed to overcome the competition.
She won a third Roland Garros title and could still add the WTA Finals crown for the first time in a few weeks’ time. Swiatek is also in contention to win to finish the year as the WTA’s No. 1 for the second straight year.
The race to finish line is very tight and will be determined at the season finale, where Sabalenka currently leads by 630 points.
