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Before the Australian Open started, Simona Halep had earned a huge $20,912,291 in her tennis career. If Halep had beaten Caroline Wozniacki in the Australian Open final she would have taken
home $3.29million. As it is, she will have to make do with another $1.65m. It takes her career earnings to $22,562,791. Halep is now ranked 11th on the all-time career prize money leaders in
women's tennis. THE TOP PRIZE MONEY LEADERS AS OF JANUARY 27 (US DOLLARS) WILLIAMS, SERENA, 84,463,131 WILLIAMS, VENUS, 39,911,734 SHARAPOVA, MARIA, 37,073,139 AZARENKA, VICTORIA,
28,431,189 RADWANSKA, AGNIESZKA, 27,226,155 WOZNIACKI, CAROLINE, 26,856,094 HINGIS, MARTINA, 24,749,074 CLIJSTERS, KIM, 24,442,340 KUZNETSOVA, SVETLANA, 24,200,700 KVITOVA, PETRA, 24,052,063
SIMONA HALEP, 22,562,791 DAVENPORT, LINDSAY, 22,166,338 GRAF, STEFFI, 21,895,277 NAVRATILOVA, MARTINA, 21,626,089 KERBER, ANGELIQUE, 21,607,604 Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki will
compete for high stakes in Saturday's Australian Open final, having each needed to save match points to prevent a premature exit at Melbourne Park. The winner at Rod Laver Arena is not
only guaranteed a long-awaited maiden grand slam title but also the world number one ranking in the game of thrones that women's tennis has become in Serena Williams's absence. The
final will be the first between two non-slam winners in 38 years, since Hana Mandlikova beat home favourite Wendy Turnbull in 1980. But in a fortnight where the seeds have been scattered to
the wind, Halep and Wozniacki may both feel fortunate to still be in the hunt. In arguably the clash of the tournament, top seed Halep had to save three match points and battle back from a
set down in a marathon thriller against American Lauren Davis in the third round. Still recovering from an ankle injury, the Romanian needed to save two further match points in another
three-set classic against 2016 champion Angelique Kerber in the semi-finals. Second seed Wozniacki also had to save two match points and claw back from 5-1 down in her early round match
against Croatia's Jana Fett. Little wonder Denmark's most accomplished tennis player described herself as feeling like she was playing with "house money" at Melbourne
Park.