PV Sindhu will be the world’s 12th highest paid female athlete in 2022, according to Forbes Badminton.

She is far ahead of her peers, including Olympic gold medalist Chen Yufei of China, reigning world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, and three-time world champion Carolina Marin of Spain, with a total earnings of $7.1 million (approximately Rs.59 crore).
Sindhu, the only Indian world champion who won in 2019, is also ahead of 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez of Canada, 2022 Wimbledon and US Open runner-up Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, and United States football star Megan Rapinoe, among others.
Surprisingly, $7 million of Sindhu’s earnings came from outside sources, while only $100,000 came from on-field earnings.
For the third year in a row, Japanese tennis sensation and four-time Major winner Naomi Osaka leads the list with a total wealth of $51.1 million, with Serena Williams, who announced her retirement from the sport earlier this year, coming in second with $41.3 million. Eileen Gu, a 19-year-old freestyle skier from China, is third on the list with $20.1 million.
Seven of the top ten are tennis players, with Gu, American gymnast Simone Biles, and Australian golfer Minjee Lee rounding out the top three. It is also the first time that eight women have earned $10 million each, more than doubling the number from a year ago, and the first time that more than seven have done so since Forbes introduced the ranking in 2008. Before taxes and agent fees, the top 25 earned a total of $285 million, with the top ten accounting for $194 million.
Sindhu was having a fantastic 2022 season until a stress fracture in her ankle forced her to withdraw from all tournaments, including the World Championships, in early August. The world No. 6 began the year by winning the Syed Modi India International in Lucknow in January, her first title in 29 months, and then won the Swiss Open in Basel in March.
In July, she won her third title of the year, the Singapore Open, before claiming a historic gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, completing her set of quadrennial medals. In April-May, she won a second bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Manila. Sindhu remained in the top eight of the world rankings despite not playing for nearly five months of the year.