Simona Halep has etched her name further in history by becoming the third WTA player ever to earn over $40 million in prize money in her tennis career.
Halep is a former World No. 1 who was a fantastic player at her peak. She hasn’t played at that level in a while, but she’s been hugely consistent for a good part of her career.
That can simply be proved by her career earnings. While tennis players can't win a trophy every week they compete, they always earn money for their efforts. The better the results, the more they can earn, and it’s just one way to showcase how consistent a player has been in their career.
Halep has earned lots of money thanks to being one of the more consistent tennis players on Tour. She has earned over $40 million so far, which is the third-best mark in WTA history.
She became only the third woman ever to make it past this mark behind Serena Williams, who sits at the top with $94,606,355, far away from everybody, and Venus Williams, who is just a bit ahead of Halep with $42,300,728.
Winning the Canadian Open is what pushed Halep over the $40 million mark. The prize money for the champion at the event was $439,700, and it was more than enough to push her past the $40 million mark, as she currently sits at $40,107,097.
Halep has a really good chance to overtake Venus Williams in the coming months, especially with a good run at the US Open. Serena Williams is too far away, but even this achievement shows how well Halep stacks up compared to her contemporaries.
Prize money will obviously increase in the coming years, so she might be overtaken in the coming decades by other players, but becoming the third ever to break the $40 million mark and only being beaten to it by Serena and Venus Williams is truly remarkable.