When Forbes released their list of the highest-paid female athletes in 2023, there was a noticeable pattern. Nine out of the ten highest-paid female athletes were tennis players. This doesn’t exactly come as a surprise since women’s tennis is one of the most popular female sports internationally. This attention has allowed the sport greater equity between its male and female players.

This was not always the case, as it is only with decades of hard work from earlier players that women’s tennis is the way that it is today.

Historically, tennis has always been a popular sport among women. It predates back to the Victorian era, when ladies played with voluminous gowns and wooden rackets. The game was common in social events such as garden parties and athletic clubs, making it one of the earliest sports women could access.

Popularity among women eventually led to demand for the first women’s tennis championship in Wimbledon in 1884. Women’s tennis continued to remain active as more tournaments shortly followed. From 1887-1893, Charlotte “Lottie” Dodd dominated Wimbledon, while in 1887, Ellen Hansen won the first women’s championship in the U.S. Open.

In 1900, women’s tennis was brought to an even bigger international stage, the 1900 Paris Olympics. Although participation in the Olympics didn’t lead to major change, it demonstrated new possibilities for women in sports, as tennis was one of the first sports with a female event in the Olympics.

Women’s tennis really started to take off during the start of the Open Era in 1968. As professionals and amateurs could compete against each other during the Open Era, more players were drawn to the sport. This inclusivity brought many female players to the sport, further widening its appeal.

However, despite the increasing number of female players in the circuit, there was rampant inequality in the sport. In 1970, many women’s tournaments were dropped, and female players were severely underpaid compared to their male colleagues.

On the other hand, 1970 was also an important year for women’s tennis. September of 1970 was the beginning of professional women’s tennis when the Original 9 Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals, Nancy Richey, Kerry Melville, Peaches Bartkowicz, Kristy Pigeon, Judy Dalton, Valerie Ziegenfuss, and Julie Heldman signed one dollar contracts in order to play in the Virginia slims series.

With the start of professional women’s tennis, female players started to earn more money, with American player Billie Jean King becoming the first-ever female player to win over $100,000 in a single season.

Despite her success, King noticed that she was being underpaid compared to her male counterparts. In an act of protest, after winning the 1972 U.S. Open, King threatened to not play in the Grand Slam the following year if male and female athletes weren’t equally paid.

King’s efforts paid off, as in 1973, the U.S. Open became the first-ever Grand Slam with equal pay. King didn’t stop her efforts there. In the same year she founded the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in a meeting with 60 other female players, and to this day, the WTA is the governing body of women’s tennis.

King wasn’t done shaking the tennis world, however, as another groundbreaking event for women’s tennis also occurred in 1973: The Battle of the Sexes.

Taking place on September 20th, 1973, the “battle” was a match between Robert “Bobby” Riggs, a 55-year-old retired professional tennis player, and Billie Jean King, the rising star of the women’s game. It was watched by over 90 million viewers, breaking records for viewership as well as garnering a live crowd of over 30,000 fans.

Prior to the match, Riggs was known for making misogynistic comments about female players and opposing equal pay. Since many people of the era held a similar opinion as Riggs, the stakes for the match were raised sky high.

The game between Kings and Riggs is not the first “Battle of the Sexes.’ Not long before then, Riggs had previously defeated the then No. 2  Australian player Margaret Court in 2 straight sets, solidifying prior stereotypes of female incapability.

After Court’s defeat, the pressure of the game was on Billie Jean King. The results of the tournament would either be a critical step towards the advancement of equal rights or a huge setback. As King herself said “ I thought it would set us back 50 years if I didn’t win that match. It would ruin the women’s [tennis] tour and affect all women’s self-esteem. To beat a 55-year-old guy was no thrill for me. The thrill was exposing a lot of new people to tennis.”

Fortunately for her fans, King delivered, masterfully guiding the ball to her will and defeating Riggs in 3 straight sets.

As King had hoped, the victory brought a lot of attention to women’s tennis, breaking  stereotypes regarding physical differences between men and women within the sport. Following in the footsteps of the U.S. Open, the Australian Open also offered equal pay in 1984. But this decision was revoked in 1996, only later amended in 2001.

Years following King’s prime, many starlets of the sport helped women’s tennis gain further international acclaim.

As tennis player and coach Jaime Yu‘25 said, “The game styles of top women’s tennis players attract many people due to their diversity. It’s also covered more often since it offers representation of women in the sports field. Children see these pro tennis players as their role models and strive to play on a similar level or higher.”

Like Yu said, there has been increasing diversity in professional tennis with seven of the current top ten players coming from different countries. This diversity increases engagement in the sport, as young girls all over the world see themselves in different tennis stars and are encouraged to play.

Many of the current top women’s tennis players were in fact inspired by diverse predecessors. World No. 5 and 2024 Olympic champion Zheng Qin Wen was inspired as a young girl by Li Na, the first ever Chinese grand slam winner, and current world No.3 and 2023 US Open champion Coco Gauff has repeatedly cited Serena and Venus Williams as her inspirations in tennis.

These tennis stars not only inspired future generations of players but they also allowed for the advancement of equity in the game. In 2005, then 4-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams fought for equal pay within the sport. She met with officials from the French Open and addressed the pay gap on the ITF’s Grand Slam board.

These efforts would come to fruition as eventually, in 2007, both the Wimbledon and French Open followed in equally paying male and female players. Finally all 4 of the Grand Slams, the French Open, U.S. Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open, had equal pay.

While it is important to acknowledge all the progress that women’s tennis has made in closing the pay gap, it is equally important to recognize areas that can still be improved. As WTA Players Council member and world No.7, Jessica Pegula told a reporter at Forbes, “We’re the highest-paid female athletes, and it’s a huge global sport, but at the same time, the pay gap is still very big.”

She said this, because while there is equal pay for all the Grand Slams, this isn’t the case for smaller 250, 500 and 1000 tournaments. Outside of Grand Slams, a higher prize for male players is the norm for many tournaments. For example, in the 2023 Cincinnati Open Novak Djokovic, the men’s single champion, earned $1.02 million, while Coco Gauff, the women’s single champion, only earned $454,500, which was less than half of Djokovic’s prize money. 

This issue is being recognized by the WTA, and they have announced a plan to achieve equal pay in combined 500 and 1000 level events by 2027 and equal prize money for non combined events by 2033. 

While improvements in the sport aren’t perfect and won’t happen immediately, any progress made in the sport is important. As Venus Williams said, “If you’re in the business of change, you have to be prepared to play the long game…It’s seldom easy; in fact, it’s pretty near always tough. But the tough thing and the right thing are often the same thing. And equality is a great thing. Maybe the most important thing.”

As one of the highest paid and watched female sports in the world, tennis is making progress in equality. We can only hope that other women’s’ sports will follow in its footsteps. 

As tennis player and coach Jaime Yu‘25 said, “The game styles of top women’s tennis players attract many people due to their diversity. It’s also covered more often since it offers representation of women in the sports field. Children see these pro tennis players as their role models and strive to play on a similar level or higher.”