Elena Rybakina Stuns Sabalenka to Secure Record £4m Payout
Rybakina sealed her forty-fifth hard court win of 2025
Elena Rybakina won the biggest payday in WTA history by beating top-ranked Sabalenka in two sets at the championship.
The 26-year-old produced a stunning display to beat four-times Grand Slam winner Sabalenka 6-3 7-6 (7-0) in Saudi Arabia.
Since both players came through the event without a loss, the purse on the table was a unprecedented £3.98 million – the highest prize awarded in WTA the sport's history.
The prize money exceeds the £3.74m Sabalenka earned for winning the US Open, which was the most lucrative major tournament in the current year.
"This has been an fantastic week," commented Rybakina.
"Truly couldn't have predicted any result so to win the title was just incredible."
"Let me offer congratulations to Aryna for being number one for a second consecutive year running, it's an outstanding achievement."
The champion, who was the sixth-ranked player, hit sixteen winners during a impressive opening set performance.
The 2022 Wimbledon winner saved a couple of break points before taking every point in the sixth game of the set to go a break up and held her serve to secure the first set.
As the second set progressed, Sabalenka defended two break points at 4-4 to swing the momentum in her favour.
However, after fighting back to upset Rybakina's rhythm, the top seed let her opponent off the hook by wasting a pair of chances in the following game to level the second set at five-all.
Sabalenka's failure to level the match impacted her tie-break performance, with the Kazakh taking every point to take home the championship.
The victory, Rybakina's sixth over Sabalenka, means Rybakina will rise one place in the WTA rankings to fifth in the world.
An emotional Sabalenka was seen crying as she met with her coaching team shortly after the final.
"It was not the finest display from me today but Elena you were certainly the better player," the Belarusian told the audience.
"You literally smashed me out of the court. I'm happy to see you play your best tennis. Enjoy this stunning trophy."
