Maria Sharapova topped the Forbes List of Female Athletes

Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova topped the Forbes list of highest-paid female athletes for the ninth straight year. According to Forbes, Sharapova earned 29 million US dollars between June 2012 and June 2013. The 26-year-old's earnings came from prize money and endorsement deals. The Forbes list was released on 6 August 2013. American Serena Williams is second on the list with earnings of 20.5 million US dollars, followed by Chinese tennis player Li Na on 18.2 million US dollars and Belarusian Victoria Azarenka on 15.7 million US dollars. Besides being a successful athlete, Sharapova also launched a candy business in 2012 and looks forward to expand into fashion, accessories and make-up. She has also launched her own brand of sweets, Sugarpova. Sharapova, number 22 in the top 100 list, earned more than the current men's number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia (26.9 million US dollars) and Spain's Rafael Nadal (26.4 million US dollars).