Elena Rybakina Upsets Sabalenka to Claim Historic £4m Prize
Elena Rybakina earned her 45th hard court triumph of 2025
Elena Rybakina claimed the greatest reward in WTA all time by overcoming world number one Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets at the tournament.
The 26-year-old delivered a brilliant display to beat four-times Grand Slam winner Sabalenka in two sets in the host country.
Since each competitor came through the event undefeated, the prize money on the table was a unprecedented £3.98 million – the highest payout offering in women's tennis the sport's history.
This amount tops the £3.74m Sabalenka won for claiming September's New York major, which was the most lucrative major tournament in the current year.
"It's been an fantastic week," said the Kazakh player.
"Truly didn't expect this outcome so to win the title was just unbelievable."
"Let me offer praise to Aryna for holding the top spot for a second consecutive year in a row, it's an incredible accomplishment."
The champion, who was the sixth-ranked player, hit sixteen winning shots during a dominant opening set performance.
Rybakina saved two break points before taking every point in the sixth game of the set to take the break and held her serve to secure the opening set.
As the second set progressed, the world number one saved two break points at four-all to swing the momentum in her favour.
However, having worked so hard to upset her opponent's flow, Sabalenka let her opponent off the hook by wasting two set points in the following game to level the set at five-all.
Her inability to force a decider affected her tie-break play, with Rybakina winning every point to win the title.
This win, Rybakina's sixth over her rival, means Rybakina will rise one place in the WTA rankings to number five in the world rankings.
A distraught Sabalenka was seen crying as she sat with her coaching team soon after the final.
"It was not the finest performance from me today but Rybakina you were certainly the better competitor," the Belarusian addressed the audience.
"You really smashed me out of the court. I'm pleased to see you at your peak. Enjoy this beautiful title."
