By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, November 8, 2025
Photo: FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty for WTA
Reconfiguring models, Elena Rybakina accomplished her biggest title of the season.
The last qualifier for these WTA finals provided top-class tennis in Riyadh.
Rybakina saved two set points in the 10th game, then powered through with a perfect sweep to break the tie. Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6(0) to capture her first WTA Finals championship.
Sixth seed Rybakina ended a dominant unbeaten run in Riyadh by lifting the Billie Jean King title trophy, recording her 11th straight victory—and collecting a record WTA champion’s check of $5.235 million.
“I honestly didn’t expect any results and to go this far, it’s just unbelievable.” 💜#WTAFinalsRiyadh pic.twitter.com/eMzIAqlNlL
— wta (@WTA) November 8, 2025
“I was just trying to be solid from start to finish,” Rybakina said Tennis Channel’s Coco Vandow afterwards. “Honestly, Aryna is very difficult to play when she has a good day of good service. It’s not easy at all.
“I was just trying to stay strong and fight for every ball. I’m glad it went my way. I don’t know how I would feel if we had to play a third set. Honestly, physically I gave it my all, mentally, to stay so focused. We both served so well at the end of the second set that I was like, What else is going to happen?
“I’m very happy and proud of what I’ve achieved at the end of this season. To start the season not so well and finish like this is great.”
It’s the 10th consecutive edition of the WTA Finals that has produced a first-time champion, and Rybakina made a major role change to make it happen.
Typically, world No. 1 Sabalenka commands the center of the court and harasses the ground game.
Today, 2022 Wimbledon winner Rybakina reversed that trend by leading the Belarusian for most of the match. While she tends to play predictably cross-court with her forehand, Rybakina conquered some flat forehands down the line and also creates some sharper, shorter angles. Rybakina served 13 aces—she finished the year with a WTA-best 515 aces on the season—and saved all five break points she faced.
Although Sabalenks is the undisputed Queen of the Tiebreaker, holding a 22-2 record in 2025 going into today’s shootout, it was Rybakina who made the shots from start to finish.
Rybakina drew five straight errors, knocked down an ace on the tee for a handful of championship points.
In her first points of the championship, Rybakina staged an errant comeback to cap a commanding week that saw her defeat six Top 10 opponents in a row to rule Riyadh.
While Sabalenka will be disappointed by the two set points she failed to convert, and a poor performance in the draw, she earned a second $2.695 million payday and ends the season with her second consecutive No. 1 at the end of the year and with a record $15 million WTA prize money in 2025.
“Thank you very much for the support, especially today,” Sabalenka told the Riyadh fans during the trophy presentation. “Maybe not the best performance, but yes, Elena, you were definitely a better player today.
“You literally blew me off the court. Very good. I’m happy to see you playing 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 early on, forcing the top seed to defend at times.
Serving in the fifth game, Rybakina made a run to save a break point. Rybakina hit back-to-back aces to hold for 3-2.
That attitude inspires the Kazakh, who opened the sixth game with a powerful forehand and then drained two straight forehands for triple break points. A back-pedaling Sabalenka hit a shot at the net as Rybakina hit a break at love for 4-2.
Facing double break points in the next game, Rybakina rose again. The sixth seed scorched a backhand down the line and then hit a short-angle forehand winner that helped her hold on for 5-2.
When Sabalenka missed back-to-back shots, Rybakina wrapped up the 44-minute opening set. Rybakina rattled off 11 more winners—16 to 5—in the first set.
The 26-year-old Kazakh didn’t drop serve in the set, expertly mixed spins and speeds on her serve and seemingly caught Sabalenka by surprise by hitting some short-angle and down-the-line forehands to keep the Belarusian restless.
In a blistering run on serve, Rybakina won 16 of her first 18 service points in the second set, including several love holds.
In the ninth game, Sabalenka avoided double break point, hitting a pair of crunching serves, then hitting a serve wide to hold for 5-4.
The world number 1 won double set points in the 10th game as Rybakina’s forehand went wide. On the first point of the set, Sabalenka, thrown out by a net cord, scored a net shot.
On the second set point, Sabalenka hit a backhand. Belarus rushed a player in the forehand, but she also scored, then knelt in disgust as Rybakina survived the threat to save two points to level the set after 10 games.
The US Open champion threw down a couple of aces to give a love hold for 6-5. Rybakina fired a forehand winner down the straight line to force the second-set tiebreaker.
Although Sabalenka has been imposing on the breakers all season, Rybakina played inspired tennis, ripping the ball with supreme confidence.
It was a season that started with injuries and controversy. Rybakina’s coach Stefano Vukov was serving a suspension from the WTA earlier in the year — she went through two other coaches, Hall of Famer Goran Ivanisevic and Davide Sanguinetti — before reuniting with Vukov.
However, Rybakina rose to the occasion with a fantastic autumn season, reeling off 11 consecutive victories, capturing three tournament titles and she will climb to world No. 5 with this title triumph.
