Rybakina Defeats Aryna Sabalenka to Win Historic £4m Payout
Rybakina sealed her forty-fifth hard-court win of 2025
Elena Rybakina won the greatest prize in women's tennis all time by defeating world number one Sabalenka in straight sets at the tournament.
Rybakina produced a brilliant display to overcome four-times major winner her opponent in two sets in Saudi Arabia.
Since each competitor advanced through the competition without a loss, the purse on offer was a historic £3.98 million – the highest prize offering in WTA the sport's history.
The prize money surpasses the £3.74m Sabalenka won for claiming the New York major, which was the highest-paying major tournament in 2025.
"It's been an fantastic tournament," said the Kazakh player.
"Truly didn't expect any result so to reach the final was just incredible."
"I want to say praise to Sabalenka for being number one for a second year in a row, it's an tremendous achievement."
Rybakina, who was the sixth-ranked player, delivered sixteen winners during a dominant first-set display.
The 2022 Wimbledon winner saved a couple of break points before taking all four points 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, the world number one defended another two opportunities at four-all to swing the momentum in her favour.
However, after fighting back to disrupt her opponent's flow, Sabalenka let her opponent off the hook by wasting a pair of set points in the next game to tie the set at five-all.
Her inability to force a decider impacted her tiebreak play, with the Kazakh taking every point to take home the title.
The victory, her sixth triumph over her rival, means Rybakina will move up one spot 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.
"It was not the best display from me in this match but Rybakina you were definitely the better competitor," the Belarusian told the crowd.
"You really overpowered me out of the court. I'm pleased to see you play your best tennis. Celebrate this stunning title."
