Chinese tennis athlete Li Na earned a total of $18.2 million USD between June 2012 and June 2013 and takes the third place on the list of 2013 world's highest-paid female athletes, which is published on forbes.com. Tennis stars have dominated the list. Seven of the top ten highest-paid female athletes are tennis stars on the list.

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Li Na rose to prominence in 2011 when she reached two Grand Slam finals and won the French Open title. Before this Li Na had already become the first player representing an Asian country to appear in a Grand Slam singles final, a milestone she achieved at the 2011 Australian Open. She was also the runner-up at the 2013 Australian Open, three times a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon and a quarter-finalist at the 2009 US Open. Her career-high singles ranking is World No. 4 and is currently Chinese No. 1.

The win in Paris made her the first Asian-born tennis player ever to win a Grand Slam singles event. She signed seven multimillion-dollar endorsement deals after the historic win. Li Na is the brand spokeswoman for Babolat, Nike, Samsung and Mercedes, as well as multiple Chinese companies. She extended her Rolex deal in 2013 after reaching the Australian Open finals.

Forbes list of the world's highest-paid female athletes 2013

1. Maria Sharapova (RUS), tennis, $29 million

2. Serena Williams (USA), tennis, $20.5 million

3. Li Na (CHN), tennis, $18.2 million

4. Victoria Azarenka (BLR), tennis, $15.7 million

5. Danica Patrick (USA), Nascar, $15 million

6. Kim Yuna (KOR), figure skating, $14 million

7. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN), tennis, $13.6 million

8. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL), tennis, $7.4 million

9. Ana Ivanovic (SRB), tennis, $7 million

10. Paula Creamer (USA), golf, $5.5 million.