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Sambuddha Dutt Tuesday, September 12, 2006 (New Delhi): The 2006 US Open women's singles winner Maria Sharapova has won seven grand slam titles less than Roger Federer but she has made more money than him this year. Sharapova, who is a rare combination of somebody who looks like a supermodel and plays like a super star, is a super duper hit with the sponsors. She's a former world number one and has won numerous awards in the past few years, including the title for the hottest athlete four times in a row, the ESPY women's tennis player of the year and the honorary Master of Sports in her native Russia. No wonder then, that Maria Sharapova is not just the richest tennis player in terms of annual earnings, but also the richest female sportsperson in the world The US Open title win on Saturday brought her 1.7 million dollars or roughly eight crore rupees in prize money. The 19-year-old blonde-haired Russian is 63rd in the list of highest paid celebrities, and the richest female sportsperson in the world. That's because she earned in excess of a whopping 25 million dollars or approximately 116 crore rupees last year. Sharapova's career earnings on the WTA Tour stand at an impressive eight million dollars, with more than three million coming in 2006 alone. But for all that wealth, Sharapova is still way behind the two richest sportspersons in the world Tiger Woods and Michael Schumacher, who earn 97.6 million and 80 million dollars annually, and just behind Ronaldinho at 29.1 million. But surprisingly, she is the richest of all the tennis players earning more than even Roger Federer who takes home 22.1 million dollars a year. That's because Federer may have nine grand slam titles as compared to Sharapova's two, but she has the glamour and the oomph factor that make her an advertisers dream. Over 90 per cent of her annual earnings come from endorsements. Besides watchmaker Tag Heuer, Sharapova endorses the products of American shoe giant Nike, communications major Motorola, the energy-drink Gatorade, Japanese camera makers canon and British SUV manufacturer Land Rover. No wonder then, that Maria's endorsements have earned her considerably more than she has won in tournament play. When asked about her income, Sharapova reportedly said, "It's never enough. Bring on the money. There's no limit to how much you can make." But there is a philanthropic side to her as well. She donated 10,000 dollars to the victims of the earthquake and the Tsunami that hit Asia in 2004. She also donated 50,000 Dollars, which came form the proceed of the sale of her Porsche car to the victims of the Beslan school siege in her native Russia. But it's the silverware, and not the money, which means more to this Siberian-born star. As she said after her US Open win, there are many people with billions of dollars, but without a US Open title to their name. -Link to article

I'm certainly happy for Sharapova for her success playing tennis, don't get me wrong. But she has earned more money than the unoffical greatest tennis player of all time, Federer. Damn endorsements!