Rybakina Upsets Sabalenka to Secure Historic £4 Million Payout
Rybakina secured her forty-fifth hard court win of the year
Elena Rybakina secured the biggest payday in WTA history by beating top-ranked Sabalenka in two sets at the championship.
The 26-year-old delivered a brilliant display to defeat four-times Grand Slam winner her opponent in two sets in Saudi Arabia.
Since each competitor advanced through the competition without a loss, the prize money 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 New York major, which was the highest-paying Grand Slam in the current year.
"This has been an fantastic week," said the Kazakh player.
"I honestly couldn't have predicted any result so to win the title was just incredible."
"Let me offer praise to Sabalenka for being number one for a second consecutive year in a row, it's an tremendous achievement."
The champion, who was the sixth-ranked player, delivered 16 winners during a impressive first-set display.
Rybakina saved a couple of break points before taking every point in the sixth game to go a break up and served out to win the first set.
As the second set progressed, the world number one defended another two break points at 4-4 to shift the balance in her favor.
However, after fighting back to disrupt Rybakina's rhythm, Sabalenka let her opponent off the hook by wasting two set points in the next game to level the second set at 5-5.
Sabalenka's failure to force a decider affected her tiebreak play, with the Kazakh winning every point to take home the title.
The victory, her sixth triumph over her rival, means she will rise one spot in the WTA rankings to fifth in the world rankings.
An emotional Sabalenka was seen crying as she sat with her team soon after the match.
"That was not the best display from me today but Elena you were definitely the superior player," the Belarusian told the audience.
"You really smashed me out of the court. I'm pleased to see you play your best tennis. Enjoy this beautiful trophy."
