Tennis player Maria Sharapova continued to top Forbes' ranking of the highest-paid female athelets this year with an earning of 27.1 million US dollars.

This is the eighth year in a row for Sharapova to lead the list and a bulk of her earnings came from endorsements and other commercial activities.

Sharapova was followed by Chinese tennis player Li Na, who moved up from No. 8 last year to No.2 with an earning of 18.4 million US dollars.

This year's list, released on July 30, ranked female athletes on their earnings over the last 12 months, and was dominated by tennis players, who took up seven out of the top ten spots.

   Yani Tseng

Earnings: $6.1 million

2011 ranking: N/A Earnings: $6.1 million

2011 rearning: $2.39 million

Tseng has been the most dominant golfer, male or female, during the past two-and-a-half years with 20 victories, including five Majors. The Taiwanese star is on the verge of qualifying for the World Golf Hall of Fame, despite being only 23-years-old.