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Elena Rybakina claimed the biggest prize in women's tennis history by defeating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in two sets at the tournament.

The 26-year-old delivered a brilliant performance to beat four-times Grand Slam champion Sabalenka in two sets in Saudi Arabia.

Because each competitor came through the competition undefeated, the prize money on the table was a historic £3.98 million – the largest prize offering in women's tennis the sport's history.

This amount tops the £3.74m Sabalenka earned for claiming September's US Open, which was the highest-paying Grand Slam in 2025.

"It's been an amazing week," stated the Kazakh player.

"Truly couldn't have predicted this outcome so to go so far was just unbelievable."

"Let me offer congratulations to Sabalenka for holding the top spot for a second year running, it's an outstanding accomplishment."

The champion, who was the world number six, hit sixteen winning shots during a dominant first-set display.

Rybakina fended off two break points before taking every point in the sixth game to go a break up and served out to secure the opening set.

As the second set progressed, Sabalenka defended another two opportunities at four-all to swing the momentum in her favor.

However, after fighting back to disrupt her opponent's flow, the top seed let her opponent off the hook by squandering two set points in the next game to tie the second set at 5-5.

Sabalenka's failure to level the match affected her tiebreak play, with the Kazakh taking all seven points to win the title.

The victory, her sixth triumph over Sabalenka, means Rybakina will move up one spot in the rankings to fifth in the world.

A distraught the runner-up was seen crying as she met with her team shortly after the final.

"It was not the best performance from me today but Elena you were definitely the superior player," the Belarusian told the audience.

"You really overpowered me out of the court. I'm happy to see you play your best tennis. Enjoy this beautiful title."