Elena Rybakina won her biggest title in over three years after defeating world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the WTA Finals.
The Kazakhstani player closed out the contest emphatically, ‘bagelling’ Sabalenka in the crucial second set tiebreak – winning the contest 6-3, 7-6.
Consequently, Rybakina has won 1,500 points and risen to world number five.
The 26-year-old has ended the season with aplomb, winning 11 of her last 12 matches – a period that has included triumphs at the Ningbo Open and WTA Finals.
Rybakina was praised by former British number one Tim Henman after the final, and rightly so – the 26-year-old’s level was simply extraordinary throughout the week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Triumph in Saturday’s final marked Rybakina’s biggest title since winning her first Grand Slam at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
And, if she can maintain her current levels of play, she will be a force at Grand Slam events in 2026.
Elena Rybakina’s winning record versus world number ones
Elena Rybakina’s victory against Aryna Sabalenka continued her superb form against top-ranked players at events.
After defeating Sabalenka, Rybakina now has a remarkable 8-6 record against players ranked world number one.
Since 1975, only two other women have a winning record against world number ones: Serena Williams and Steffi Graf [minimum 10 matches].
As for Sabalenka, this final loss represented yet another bitter blow – the Belarusian has now lost in three significant finals this year: the French Open, Wimbledon and the WTA Finals.
However, Sabalenka has much to smile about. After all, she has secured the year-ending world number one spot for a second consecutive season.
Elena Rybakina reacts to her victory in Riyadh
During an interview with CoCo Vandeweghe on the Tennis Channel, Rybakina was asked whether she felt she was going to win the match in the warmup before she walked out onto court.
Rybakina replied: “Thank you, well I didn’t think much of how it’s going to go.
“I was just trying to be solid from the beginning to the end, and honestly, with Aryna, it’s very difficult to play, when she gets a good day, also of good serving. It’s not easy at all, and it kind of goes 50-50, and I was just trying to stay strong and fight for every ball, and I’m happy it went my way.
“I don’t know how I would’ve felt if we would’ve had to play a third set honestly, because physically I gave it all, mentally also to stay so focused.
“We both served so well in the end of the second set that I was like ‘what else is going to be happening?’ So yeah, so I’m very glad and proud for what I achieved at the end of the season, and starting this season is not so good and finishing like this is amazing.”
Heading into the tournament, Rybakina had played more matches on the WTA Tour in 2025 than any other player in Riyadh.
The 26-year-old was asked whether this factor potentially explained why her serving has been so effective in recent matches.
Against Sabalenka, Rybakina served 13 aces and won a remarkable 82 per cent of her second serve points.
“Yeah I definitely feel that the serve helped me so much in this tournament,” Rybakina said.
“Even when I had some downs, in the important moments I was bringing some good serves and yeah I’m very glad I was stable more or less throughout the whole matches.
“Again, for me, this is the best achievement that I managed to play from the beginning of the tournament to the end, and showing some good level and not dropping much against the best players. So yeah, I’m really, really happy.”
Rybakina then noted the struggles of this season and sacrifices she has made.
“On the bad days it was not easy because I played a lot, I traveled also. We tried to do a minimum of what we could.
“I was not spending so much time on the court but we were trying to make the best possible practices in the short period of time. Was trying to maintain my physical part also.
“We were not doing something crazy because, of course, matches were already starting so quick, so I think with the team we managed really well.
“We did some good recovery, some exercises which helped me to feel not worse, also with the shoulder a little bit. So yeah, I think we did a good job in terms of what we had.”
