By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, November 8, 2025
Photo credit: FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty for WTA
Reconfiguring patterns, Elena Rybakina realized her biggest title run of the season.
The last qualifier for these WTA Finals delivered first-rate tennis in Riyadh.
Rybakina saved two set points in the 10th game then powered through a perfect tiebreaker sweeping Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6(0) to capture her maiden WTA Finals championship.
The sixth-seeded Rybakina completed a dominant undefeated Riyadh run raising the Billie Jean King title trophy, registering her 11th consecutive victory—and collecting a WTA record champion’s check of $5.235 million.
“I honestly didn’t expect any result and to go so far, it’s just incredible.” 💜#WTAFinalsRiyadh pic.twitter.com/eMzIAqlNlL
— wta (@WTA) November 8, 2025
“I was just trying to be solid from the beginning to the end,” Rybakina told Tennis Channel’s Coco Vandeweghe afterward. “Honestly, Aryna is very difficult to play when she gets a good day of good serving. It’s not easy at all.
“I was just trying to stay strong and fight for each ball. I’m happy that it went my way. I don’t know how I would feel if we needed to play a third set. Honestly, 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?
“I’m very glad and proud for what I have achieved at the end of this season. Starting the season not so good and finishing like this, it’s amazing.”
It’s the 10th straight edition of the WTA Finals to produce a first-time champion and Rybakina pulled off a major role reversal to realize it.
Typically, world No. 1 Sabalenka commands the center of the court and bullies baseline play.
Today, the 2022 Wimbledon winner Rybakina reversed that trend bossing the Belarusian around for much of the match. Though she tends to predictably play her forehand crosscourt, Rybakina rifled some flat forehands down the line and also create some sharper, shorter angles. Rybakina slashed 13 aces—she finished the year with a WTA-best 515 aces on the season—and saved all five break points she faced.
Though Sabalenks is undisputed Tiebreaker Queen, carrying a 22-2 tiebreaker record in 2025 into today’s breaker, it was Rybakina calling the shots from start to finish.
Rybakina drew five errors in a row, ripped an ace down the T for a fistful of championship points.
On her first championship points, Rybakina drew an errant return closing a commanding week that saw her defeat six Top 10 opponents in succession to rule Riyadh.
While Sabalenka will rue the two set points she failed to convert, and a poor tiebreaker performance, she earned a $2.695 Million runner-up payday and ends the season with both her second straight year-end No. 1 ranking and a WTA-record $15 Million in prize money in 2025.
“Thank you so much for the support, today especially,” Sabalenka told Riyadh fans during the trophy presentation. “Maybe not the best performance, but yeah, Elena you were definitely a better player today.
“You literally smashed me out of the court. Very well done. I’m happy to see you play your best tennis. Nice comeback at the end of the season. Now, it’s time to enjoy our offseason and enjoy this beautiful trophy.”
Riding a 10-match winning streak into this final, Rybakina was hitting harder and deeper at the outset forcing the top seed to defend at times.
Serving in the fifth game, Rybakina rolled a running forehand to save a break point. Rybakina slashed successive aces holding for 3-2.
That stand inspire the Kazakh, who opened the sixth game with a forehand strike crosscourt then drained two straight forehand misses for triple break point. A back-pedaling Sabalenka slapped a smash into net as Rybakina scored the love break for 4-2.
Facing double break point in the next game, Rybakina rose again. The sixth seed scalded a backhand down the line then hit a short-angled forehand winner that helped her hold for 5-2.
When Sabalenka missed consecutive backhands, Rybakina wrapped up the 44-minute opening set. Rybakina ripped 11 more winners—16 to 5—in that first set.
The 26-year-old Kazakh did not drop serve in the set, masterfully mixed her serve spins and speeds and seemingly surprised Sabalenka striking some short angle forehands and down the line forehand drives to keep the Belarusian unsettled.
In a rocking rhythm on serve, Rybakina won 16 of her first 18 service points of set two, including a couple of love holds.
In the ninth game, Sabalenka staved off double break point pounding down a pair of crackling serves then whipping the wide serve to hold for 5-4.
The world No. 1 earned double set point in the 10th game as Rybakina’s forehand went askew. On the first set point, Sabalenka, thrown off by a net cord, netted a backhand.
On the second set point, Sabalenka netted a backhand return. The Belarussian rushed a forehand sitter but netted that too then dropped to her knees in disgust as Rybakina survived the threat saving two set points to level the set after 10 games.
The US Open champion threw down a couple of aces issuing a love hold for 6-5. Rybakina flashed a forehand winner down the line to force the second-set tiebreaker.
Though Sabalenka has been imposing in breakers the entire season, Rybakina played inspired tennis ripping through the tiebreaker with supreme self-assurance.
It was a season that started with injury and controversy. Rybakina’s coach, Stefano Vukov, was serving a WTA suspension at the start of the year—she went through two other coaches, Hall of Famer Goran Ivanisevic and Davide Sanguinetti—before reuniting with Vukov.
Yet Rybakina rose up with a fantastic fall season reeling off 11 wins in a row, capturing three tournament titles and she will rise to world No. 5 with this title triumph.
