🔗 Share this article Rybakina Defeats Aryna Sabalenka to Secure Record £4m Payout Elena Rybakina earned her 45th hard-court triumph of 2025 Rybakina secured the largest reward in women's tennis all time by beating top-ranked Sabalenka in two sets at the WTA Finals. The 26-year-old delivered a brilliant display to overcome four-time Grand Slam winner Sabalenka 6-3 7-6 (7-0) in Saudi Arabia. Since both players came through the tournament undefeated, the purse on the table was a historic £3.98m – the highest prize awarded in WTA the sport's history. The prize money surpasses the £3.74m the Belarusian earned for claiming September's US Open, which was the highest-paying major tournament in the current year. "It's been an incredible tournament," said the Kazakh player. "I honestly didn't expect this outcome so to reach the final was just remarkable." "Let me offer congratulations to Sabalenka for being number one for a second consecutive year running, it's an outstanding achievement." Rybakina, who was the sixth-ranked player, delivered 16 winners during a impressive opening set display. The 2022 Wimbledon winner fended off a couple of break points before taking all four points in the sixth game to go a break up and served out to seal the first set. With the second set on serve, Sabalenka defended another two break points at four-all to swing the momentum in her favour. However, after fighting back to disrupt her opponent's flow, Sabalenka failed to capitalize by squandering two chances in the following game to level the second set at five-all. Sabalenka's failure to level the match affected her tie-break performance, with the Kazakh taking all seven points to win the championship. The victory, her sixth triumph over her rival, means Rybakina will rise one place in the WTA rankings to fifth in the world. A distraught Sabalenka was seen crying as she met with her team shortly after the match. "It was not the best performance from me today but Rybakina you were certainly the superior player," Sabalenka told the crowd. "You literally overpowered me on court. I'm pleased to see you play your best tennis. Celebrate this beautiful title."