MUMBAI: Maria Sharapova has emerged as the top most earning female athlete for the eighth year in a row, according to Forbes list of World?s Highest-Paid Female Athletes.

Incidentally, the top 10 list is dominated by Tennis players with as many as seven of them making it to the top 10.

The 25-year-old French Open champion earned an estimated $27.1 million from July 2011-July 2012. A large chunk of that revenue comes from brand endorsements followed by prize money.

China?s Li Na doubled her earnings to $18.4 million from $8 million in last year?s survey due to her victory in 2011 French Open. Li Na had moved to world number 11 due to her French Open win.

Third on the list is Serena Williams with earnings of $16.3 million followed by Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark with $13.7 million.

Other Tennis players in the top 10 are current world number one tennis player Victoria Azarenka ($9.7 million) of Belarus, Ana Ivanovic ($7.2 million) of Serbia and Poland?s Agnieszka Radwanska ($6.9 million).

Only three non-tennis players figure in top 10 which includes NASCAR?s Danica Patrick at fifth spot with $13 million earnings. South Korea?s women?s Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na was at seventh with $9 million of earnings while Taiwanese world number one golfer Yani Tseng was 10th with $6.1 million.

Top five women earners:

1. Maria Sharapova, tennis, $27.1 million.
2. Li Na, tennis, $18.4 million.
3. Serena Williams, tennis, 16.3 million.
4. Caroline Wozniacki, tennis, $13.7 million.
5. Danica Patrick, motor racing, $13 million.

MUMBAI: The F?d?ration Fran?aise de Tennis (FFT) and MP & Silva have said that the first year of their collaboration in distributing the European media rights for Roland Garros has seen increased hours of coverage, higher audiences and new channels showing the tournament.

The collaboration with MP & Silva is the first time the FFT has chosen to partner with an agency in Europe following an over 30-year partnership with the European Broadcasting Union.

For the 2012 tournament outside of the home nation (France), European broadcast partners showed over 7,800 hours of coverage across 50 channels, an increase from the 6,629 hours of coverage across 42 channels in 2011.

Of the 25 broadcast partners for 2012, 12 were new, with the likes of ITV in the UK, Cuatro in Spain, PRVA TV and B92 in Serbia, Czech TV in Czech Republic and NTV in Turkey showing action from Roland Garros for the first time.

In keeping with the FFT?s commitment to ensure the widest possible audience for its event, MP & Silva secured free-to-air coverage in 22 countries, up from 20 in 2011. Pay-TV coverage was provided by Eurosport across Europe and by Canal+ in Spain.

FFT?s Media & Sponsorship Director Michel Grach said, ?Our aim is to develop our relationships with MP & Silva and our new broadcasters still further, and to continue to improve the quality and quantity of Roland Garros coverage for tennis fans and tournament partners worldwide."

The 2012 distribution generated 18.8 billion viewing minutes (where one person watching for one minute equals one viewing minute) for the tournament, a 17 per cent increase on the 16 billion viewing minutes achieved in 2011.

Excluding audiences on Eurosport, the 2012 tournament generated 10.8 billion viewing minutes, a 6 per-cent increase on the 10.2 billion viewing minutes for the 2011 event.

The increased audience was achieved despite the overlap this year with Euro 2012 and the poor weather conditions for the men?s final, traditionally the biggest viewing peak of the tournament. Persistent rain forced the conclusion of the match to be postponed 24 hours and it eventually finished on Monday 11 June.

The rain interruptions on the Sunday meant that coverage ended up clashing with Euro 2012?s Spain v Italy group stage match and Formula One?s Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

MP & Silva Group CEO Andrea Radrizzani said, "We are extremely happy with the results of the first year of our partnership with Roland Garros. We have worked together with the Federation with full transparency in every deal done with every broadcaster."