🔗 Share this article Elena Rybakina Stuns Sabalenka to Win Historic £4m Prize Rybakina secured her forty-fifth hard court victory of 2025 Rybakina won the greatest prize in WTA all time by defeating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in two sets at the tournament. Rybakina produced a impressive display to beat four-time Grand Slam winner her opponent 6-3 7-6 (7-0) in Saudi Arabia. Since each competitor advanced through the event undefeated, the prize money on the table was a historic almost £4 million – the biggest prize awarded in WTA history. This amount tops the £3.74 million Sabalenka won for winning the US Open, which was the most lucrative major tournament in 2025. "This has been an amazing week," stated Rybakina. "Truly couldn't have predicted any result so to go so far was just incredible." "I want to say praise to Aryna for being number one for a second year in a row, it's an outstanding achievement." The champion, who was the world number six, hit sixteen winning shots during a impressive opening set performance. Rybakina saved a couple of break points before winning all four points in the sixth game to take the break and served out to win the first set. As the second set progressed, Sabalenka defended another two break points at 4-4 to swing the momentum in her favour. But, after fighting back to disrupt her opponent's flow, Sabalenka failed to capitalize by wasting a pair of chances in the next game to level the second set at five-all. Her inability to level the match affected her tie-break performance, with Rybakina taking all seven points to win the title. This win, her sixth triumph over Sabalenka, means she will rise one spot in the WTA rankings to number five in the world rankings. A distraught the runner-up appeared to be in tears as she met with her team soon after the match. "That was not the finest performance from me today but Elena you were definitely the better competitor," the Belarusian told the audience. "You really smashed me out of the court. I'm pleased to see you at your peak. Enjoy this beautiful title."