5 Tennis Players in Forbes 2012 100 Most Powerful Celebrities

Five tennis players, two from the ATP men's tour and three from the WTA women's tour, made the Forbes’ 2012 list of the top 100 world’s most powerful celebrities. Of the five, 16-time Grand Slam champion and world no. 2 Roger Federer was the highest-ranked tennis player at No. 31. He is followed by world no. 3 Rafael Nadal at no. 47, women's no. 2 Maria Sharapova at no. 71, 13-time Grand Slam champ Serena Williams at no. 77 and 2011 French Open champion and Li Na at no. 87. Notable omissions from the list were the no. 1 players in the ATP and WTA tours for 2011 - Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki. Current WTA world no. 1 and Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka is also missing from the list.

The annual THE CELEBRITY 100 ranking is published by Forbes and covers the period from May 1, 2011, and May 1, 2012. The list includes "film and television actors, TV personalities, models, athletes, authors, musicians and comedians". Unlike other Forbes lists that are based on money and earnings, this ranking is based on money and fame. In the criteria used for fame, factors taken into consideration were media visibility in print, television, radio and online, plus social media power, which was measured by looking at each celebrity’s presence on Facebook and Twitter. The list is on its 13th year and started in 1999.

Below are the profiles of these five tennis players included in THE CELEBRITY 100 from Forbes.com:

#31. Roger Federer
Earnings $52M As of May 2012

Age: 30
Source of Wealth: Tennis
Residence: Bottmingen, Switzerland
Country of Citizenship: Switzerland
Marital Status: Married
Children: 2

#30 in Money
#41 in TV/Radio
#2 in Press
#28 in Social
#68 in Web

Federer has the most impressive endorsement portfolio in sports with nine sponsors that collectively earn Federer more than $30 million annually including long-term deals with Nike, Rolex, Wilson and Credit Suisse. He also commands more than $1 million per exhibition event. Federer is widely perceived as the greatest tennis player ever. He holds the records for most singles Grand Slam wins (16) and career prize money ($70 million). He appeared in a staggering 18 out of 19 Grand Slam finals between 2005 and 2010.

#47. Rafael Nadal
Earnings $33M As of May 2012

Age: 26
Source of Wealth: Tennis
Residence: Manacor, Spain
Country of Citizenship: Spain
Marital Status: Single

#58 in Money
#14 in TV/Radio
#3 in Press
#25 in Social
#54 in Web

Nadal has established himself as one of the top tennis players of all-time. He has ranked among the top two in the ATP's year-end standings for seven straight years. His $48 million in career prize money ranks second only to Roger Federer. He became the first person to win the same tournament eight straight years when he clinched the title at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in April, 2012. Nadal has expanded his endorsement portfolio in recent years and counts Nike, Babolat, Kia Motors, Richard Mille and Bacardi among his sponsors.

#71. Maria Sharapova
Earnings $26M As of May 2012

Age: 25
Source of Wealth: Tennis
Residence: Bradenton, FL
Country of Citizenship: Russia
Marital Status: Engaged

#67 in Money
#59 in TV/Radio
#20 in Press
#33 in Social
#76 in Web

The world's highest-paid female athlete earns much more off the court than on thanks to deals with Evian, Head, Nike, Samsung, Tag Heuer and Tiffany. Sales for the Maria Sharapova Collection, her line of products at Nike subsidiary Cole Haan, doubled last year. He ballet flat is the best selling female shoe for Cole Haan. Next up: her own candy company called Sugarpova.

#77. Serena Williams
Earnings $13M As of May 2012

Age: 30
Source of Wealth: Tennis
Residence: Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Country of Citizenship: United States
Marital Status: Single

#90 in Money
#40 in TV/Radio
#19 in Press
#47 in Social
#63 in Web

Williams was sidelined for much of 2011 with serious injuries, but still managed to win two of the six tournaments she entered. She is the only female athlete to earn more than $35 million in career prize money and her thirteen Grand Slam singles titles is sixth all-time. Williams has a clothing line that sells on HSN, in addition to endorsement deals with Nike, Wilson and Gatorade. Her latest venture is pushing Sleep Sheets, strips with melatonin that melt in your mouth.

#87. Li Na
Earnings $18M As of May 2012

Age: 30
Source of Wealth: Tennis
Residence: Wuhan, Hubei, China
Country of Citizenship: China
Education: Bachelor of Arts / Science, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Marital Status: Married

#77 in Money
#74 in TV/Radio
#37 in Press
#87 in Social
#94 in Web

Li was a 28-year-old journeyman tennis player with three career WTA victories before 2011 when she reached two Grand Slam finals and won the French Open title. The win in Paris made her the first Chinese tennis player ever to win a Grand Slam event. Despite the sluggish overall sponsorship market, she signed seven multimillion-dollar endorsement deals after the historic win. Li shills for Babolat, Haagan-Daaz, Nike, Samsung and Mercedes, as well as multiple Chinese companies.