There’s something special about championship day at the Hologic WTA Tour’s crown-jewel event. The best in each draw converge to decide who will be the last one standing, and the newest WTA Finals champions were crowned Saturday in Riyadh.
In her third appearance, Elena Rybakina emerged as the new singles champion, defeating Aryna Sabalenka 6–3, 7–6 (0) to capture her first WTA Finals crown and 10th career title.
Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens won the doubles trophy once more with a 7-6 (4), 6-1 win over Timea Babos and Luisa Stefani, three years after their 2022 title.
The championship moments, the emotion, the history — Saturday in Riyadh checked every box. Here’s the best of the buzz from the WTA Finals.
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The Winning Moment
Few feelings in tennis match that championship moment.
After 107 minutes, Rybakina finally had hers — once Sabalenka’s return sailed long, she could take it all in. The moment belonged to her, the 10th straight first-time champion at the WTA Finals.
Rybakina surpassed her own expectations. In her on-stage speech, she said she didn’t expect to advance as far as she did.
As for Kudermetova and Mertens, they needed 10 fewer minutes than Rybakina to close out their win. On match point, Mertens’ serve proved too much for an outstretched Stefani, whose return caught the net.
Making Women’s Sports History
With a perfect 5-0 record, Rybakina leaves Riyadh with $5.235 million. That’s the largest payout in women’s sports history.
Sabalenka earned $2.695 million across the tournament in the second-place finish, and her 2025 total set a new WTA single-season prize-money record, surpassing Serena Williams’ 2013 mark. Kudermetova and Mertens will split their accrued prize money of $1.06 million as doubles champions.
A record total of $15.5 million in prize money was available at the WTA Finals, $12.4 million dedicated to singles and $3.1 million to doubles.
Then and Now
Kudermetova and Mertens reign as WTA Finals champions once again.
Following their 2022 title in Fort Worth, Texas, they rejoined forces and etched their names once more.
They did not play a match together in 2023 or 2024 but reunited in April and reached WTA 1000 finals in Madrid and Rome in their first tournaments back together.
That kickstarted the road to Riyadh, where they became 22nd and 23rd players to hoist the trophy multiple times.
Bringing out the Hardware
Some well-known names in the game had the honor of bringing out the champions trophies ahead of each final Saturday.
Ons Jabeur entered King Saud University Indoor Arena with the Billie Jean King singles trophy. Jabeur, a three-time Grand Slam finalist, competed at the WTA Finals in 2022 and 2023. From the Arab national Tunisia, Jabeur served as an ambassador for the season-ending championships in Riyadh this past week.
Angelique Kerber, three-time Grand Slam Champion brought out the Martina Navratilova doubles trophy. Kerber made five appearances at the WTA Finals with her best performance in 2016, when she reached the final and earned the year-end No. 1 ranking.
A Rybakina Run to Remember
Simply put, Rybakina closed 2025 the strongest out of anyone this season.
Her title in Riyadh culminated an 11-match winning streak that dates back to Rybakina’s path to the title in Ningbo. Also a champion in Strasbourg in May, Rybakina went on a tear when it mattered most.
She was the last to qualify for Riyadh, and is now the last one standing.
Grab the Tissue Box
Losing in the final of any tournament, let alone the WTA Finals, is difficult. But Babos and Stefani handled the defeat gracefully and gave compelling speeches on their partnership.
Babos wanted to soak in the moment. Previously a winner of three WTA Finals doubles titles from 2017-19 with other partners, Babos emotionally revealed she won’t play a full schedule in 2026, and her partnership with Stefani will not continue.
“It’s maybe my last speech,” Babos said tearfully.
The origin of their partnership started from a spontaneous phone call from Stefani she received in January while making dinner at home ahead of a tournament in Linz. Answering that call kickstarted a spectacular run to Riyadh, and a stellar 2025 season.
In her speech below, Stefani discussed what the partnership with Babos meant to her, and the bond they built over the year.
What’s it like Playing the Champion?
Sabalenka said it best during her finalist speech: “Elena, you literally smashed me out of the court.”
That was certainly the case Saturday. Rybakina, in addition to her powerful serve, had Sabalenka all over the court on numerous rallies. In this unique point-of-view angle, here’s a glimpse of the juggernaut Sabalenka had to withstand Saturday.
Sabalenka fell just short of her first WTA Finals title, but ends 2025 as the year-end No. 1 for the second straight year.
Despite the outcome, Sabalenka expressed her joy in being part of the process to grow women’s tennis in Saudi Arabia during her speech to the crowd. Check out the clip below.
