🔗 Share this article Elena Rybakina Defeats Sabalenka to Claim Record £4m Reward Rybakina earned her 45th hard-court win of 2025 Elena Rybakina won the greatest payday in women's tennis all time by beating top-ranked Sabalenka in straight sets at the tournament. Rybakina produced a brilliant display to beat four-time major winner her opponent 6-3 7-6 (7-0) in Saudi Arabia. Since both players advanced through the competition undefeated, the reward on the table was a unprecedented £3.98 million – the highest payout awarded in women's tennis history. This amount surpasses the £3.74m the Belarusian earned for winning the New York major, which was the most lucrative major tournament in 2025. "This has been an incredible tournament," stated Rybakina. "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 in a row, it's an incredible accomplishment." Rybakina, who was the world number six, delivered sixteen winning shots during a impressive first-set display. The 2022 Wimbledon winner saved a couple of chances before taking all four points in the sixth game of the set to go a break up and served out to seal the opening set. With the second set on serve, the world number one defended another two break points at 4-4 to swing the momentum in her favour. However, having worked so hard to disrupt her opponent's flow, Sabalenka let her opponent off the hook by squandering two set points in the following game to level the second set at five-all. Her inability to force a decider affected her tie-break performance, with the Kazakh winning every point to claim the championship. This win, her sixth triumph over her rival, means Rybakina will move up one place in the WTA rankings to number five in the world rankings. An emotional the runner-up appeared to be in tears as she sat with her team shortly after the match. "That was not the best performance from me in this match but Rybakina you were definitely the superior competitor," Sabalenka addressed the crowd. "You literally smashed me on court. I'm happy to see you play your best tennis. Enjoy this stunning title."