Elena Rybakina Stuns Aryna Sabalenka to Secure Historic £4 Million Reward
Elena Rybakina sealed her forty-fifth hard court victory of 2025
Rybakina claimed the largest payday in women's tennis history by defeating world number one Sabalenka in straight sets at the WTA Finals.
Rybakina produced a brilliant performance to overcome four-time Grand Slam champion her opponent 6-3 7-6 (7-0) in Saudi Arabia.
Because both players came through the event undefeated, the purse on offer was a unprecedented £3.98m – the biggest prize awarded in WTA history.
The prize money tops the £3.74 million the Belarusian earned for winning the New York major, which was the most lucrative Grand Slam in the current year.
"This has been an fantastic tournament," said the Kazakh player.
"I honestly couldn't have predicted any result so to reach the final was just incredible."
"I want to say praise to Aryna for being number one for a second year running, it's an tremendous achievement."
The champion, who was the sixth-ranked player, delivered 16 winning shots during a impressive first-set performance.
The 2022 Wimbledon winner fended off a couple of chances before taking every point in the sixth game of the set to go a break up and held her serve to win the first set.
As the second set progressed, Sabalenka defended another two opportunities at four-all to swing the momentum in her favor.
However, having worked so hard to disrupt her opponent's flow, the top seed failed to capitalize by wasting a pair of set points in the next game to tie the second set at 5-5.
Her inability to level the match impacted her tiebreak performance, with Rybakina winning every point to win the championship.
The victory, her sixth triumph over her rival, means she will move up one place in the WTA rankings to number five in the world rankings.
An emotional the runner-up was seen crying as she met with her coaching team soon after the match.
"That was not the finest display from me today but Elena you were certainly the better competitor," the Belarusian addressed the crowd.
"You really overpowered me out of the court. I'm happy to see you at your peak. Enjoy this beautiful trophy."
