🔗 Share this article Elena Rybakina Upsets Aryna Sabalenka to Claim Historic £4 Million Prize Rybakina earned her 45th hard court triumph of 2025 Elena Rybakina claimed the greatest prize in women's tennis all time by beating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in two sets at the tournament. The 26-year-old produced a stunning performance to defeat four-times major champion Sabalenka in two sets in Saudi Arabia. Because each competitor advanced through the tournament without a loss, the reward on the table was a historic £3.98m – the largest prize offering in WTA history. The reward surpasses the £3.74m Sabalenka received for winning September's New York major, which was the highest-paying Grand Slam in the current year. "This has been an incredible week," said the Kazakh player. "I honestly couldn't have predicted any result so to win the title was just incredible." "I want to say praise to Sabalenka for holding the top spot for a second consecutive year running, it's an outstanding accomplishment." The champion, who was the sixth-ranked player, hit 16 winners during a impressive opening set performance. 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 seal the opening set. With the second set on serve, Sabalenka saved two opportunities at 4-4 to swing the momentum in her favour. However, having worked so hard to upset her opponent's flow, Sabalenka failed to capitalize by squandering a pair of chances in the next game to tie the set at 5-5. Sabalenka's failure to force a decider impacted her tiebreak performance, with the Kazakh winning all seven points to claim the championship. This win, her sixth triumph over her rival, means she will move up one place in the WTA rankings to number five in the world rankings. A distraught Sabalenka appeared to be in tears as she sat with her team soon after the match. "It was not the best performance from me today but Rybakina you were definitely the better player," Sabalenka addressed the crowd. "You really smashed me on court. I'm happy to see you at your peak. Celebrate this stunning trophy."