RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The last player to qualify turned out to be the last one standing. Elena Rybakina stretched her win streak to 11 straight matches on Saturday night, defeating World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (0) to capture the WTA Finals title.
With both finalists unbeaten in group play, Rybakina earned $5.235 million for the victory, while Sabalenka took home $2.695 million as runner-up. Even in defeat, Sabalenka’s total set a new WTA single-season prize-money record, surpassing Serena Williams’ 2013 mark.
Rybakina’s victory capped a three-title season that included Strasbourg and Ningbo and made her the 10th consecutive first-time WTA Finals champion. She finished 58–19, her strongest year to date. As the No. 6 seed, she became the fourth player in the past seven years to win the title from that position, following Caroline Wozniacki, Elina Svitolina and Garbiñe Muguruza.
The victory narrowed her rivalry with Sabalenka to 8–6, and Rybakina also improved to 8–6 against No. 1-ranked players — her first win over a reigning No. 1 since beating Sabalenka in the Cincinnati quarterfinals earlier this summer. Rybakina became the first player representing an Asian country to win the WTA Finals and the fourth since 2003 to defeat a World No. 1 to secure the title, joining Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and Dominika Cibulkova.
The opening set was a heavy-hitting tug-of-war, both players landing big first serves until Rybakina found her range midway through. She broke Sabalenka at love to go up 4–2, sealing the game when the World No. 1 netted an overhead. Serving for the set at 5–3, Rybakina stayed composed and capitalized on two errors to close it out 6–3.
In the second, Sabalenka saved two break points in the third game and two more at 4–4 to stay even. But her resistance faded in the tiebreak — a situation that had been her strength all year. Sabalenka came in with a 22–2 record in breakers, including a run of 19 straight that ended in Wuhan. This time, though, she didn’t win a single point, as Rybakina ran away with it to seal the title in straight sets.
Sabalenka closes 2025 with four titles and 63 match-wins, including the US Open and two WTA 1000 trophies, and will end as the year-end No. 1 for a second straight season, one of only seven women to hold the top spot across consecutive calendar years. Rybakina will finish at a career-high No. 5.
