Annals of Applied Sport Science

Background. The 5 members of the BRICS-alliance play an ever-increasing role in shaping today’s global economy. On the other hand, players stemming from these countries have a disproportionately low share among the top-ranked female tennis players.  Objectives. The paper seeks to reveal whether the recent economic expansion of these countries is associated with more flourishing sports advancements of female tennis players. Methods. Based on the data encompassing the period 2012-2021 and stemming from the WTA-rankings and the World Bank Database, a correlation analysis has been executed with the purpose of investigating whether macroeconomic and socio-political indicators explain the advancements of female tennis players stemming from these countries. Results. Some macroeconomic indicators, like per-capita GDP are positively, while others, like the gross national expenditure, and the alternatives offered to be educated are negatively correlated with the advancements of the players, hence, a clear-cut decision as to whether economic well-being fosters sport successes or not could not be reached. Conclusion. While a certain level of well-being, indeed, is needed to succeed in the field of sports, after having reached a certain level of well-being, achieving outstanding performance is not considered any more as a prosperous way to elevate social status and as such, players from less developed countries might be more motivated to strive for outstanding results.