Elena Rybakina Upsets Aryna Sabalenka to Secure Historic £4m Payout
Rybakina secured her 45th hard-court win of the year
Rybakina won the greatest payday in WTA all time by overcoming world number one Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets at the championship.
The 26-year-old delivered a stunning performance to overcome four-times major champion her opponent in two sets in Saudi Arabia.
Since each competitor advanced through the event without a loss, the reward on offer was a record-breaking almost £4 million – the highest prize offering in WTA the sport's history.
This amount surpasses the £3.74 million the Belarusian earned for winning September's US Open, which was the most lucrative major tournament in the current year.
"This has been an fantastic tournament," said the Kazakh player.
"Truly didn't expect any result so to reach the final was just unbelievable."
"I want to say praise to Sabalenka for holding the top spot for a second consecutive year running, it's an outstanding achievement."
The champion, who was the sixth-ranked player, hit 16 winners during a dominant first-set display.
Rybakina saved two chances before winning every point in the sixth game of the set to take the break and held her serve to secure the first set.
With the second set on serve, the world number one saved another two break points at four-all to swing the momentum in her favour.
However, having worked so hard to upset Rybakina's rhythm, the top seed failed to capitalize by wasting a pair of set points in the following game to tie the set at 5-5.
Sabalenka's failure to level the match affected her tiebreak performance, with the Kazakh taking every point to win the title.
This win, her sixth triumph over Sabalenka, means Rybakina will rise one spot in the WTA rankings to number five in the world.
An emotional the runner-up was seen crying as she met with her team soon after the final.
"That was not the best performance from me in this match but Rybakina you were certainly the superior player," the Belarusian told the crowd.
"You literally smashed me out of the court. I'm pleased to see you at your peak. Celebrate this beautiful title."
