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Our paper presents the macroeconomic indicators that most determine the success of women’s professional tennis players, expressed in terms of WTA ranking points and total money won in tournaments. Using data from 38 OECD countries, we perform a panel regression analysis to determine the extent to which macroeconomic factors contribute to players’ success. Our results show that the explanatory power of some macroeconomic factors has declined to insignificant levels over the last 20 years, but that players’ success is to some extent dependent on macroeconomic factors describing the welfare of their country of origin. It can be concluded that players from less prosperous countries are likely to perform better than their counterparts from more affluent regions. Although a certain level of economic well-being is essential for success, social well-being also plays a crucial role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International sports are dominated by Western nations for many decades. The popularity of tennis has risen from the aristocratic entertainment of the elite upper class to the sport of the middle class. Tennis is one of the most successful women's sports worldwide, the female tennis players among the highest paid athletes. Players from the former socialist countries are taking on an increasing role inglobal tennis, which has developed into a professional sport. The article describes the causes of the phenomenon focusing on the already retired and still active elit hungarian women tennis players. The research was carried out among retired and active Hungarian elite tennis players. Data was collected with the help of questionnaries. Statistical analysis confirms that the success of tennis players' sports performance and sports culture is influenced by different factors. The main contribution of our paper is that a tennis career already functions as a livelihood model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]