Elena Rybakina pulled off an improbable feat in dominating fashion at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The No. 6 seed capped off an 11-match win streak with a 6-3, 7-6 (0) victory in straight sets over the World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday, earning her spot in women's tennis history.

“It's been an incredible week,” Rybakina said after the match. “I honestly didn't expect any result, and to go so far is just incredible.”

Rybakina beat out the world's eight best players on her way to the title, including topping No. 2 Iga Swiatek, Amanda Anisimova, and Jessica Pegula. She came into the match undefeated in the tournament and managed to strike eight aces against Sabalenka in her first WTA Finals championship match.

“It gives me a lot of motivation, and hopefully I get some good rest, and I can keep this mentality and bring it to the next season,” she added. “Hopefully, we can improve even more and start strong. I'm really glad that [I] was pretty stable throughout the whole tournament, and hopefully I can carry it throughout the whole next season.”

The win wasn't the only thing Rybakina had to celebrate, though. The Kazakhstan native took home the largest prize purse in women's tennis history, earning $5,235,000 with the victory.

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“It's definitely a huge amount, and honestly, I didn't think about any of that so much, but of course it's great,” Rybakina said with a smile about her record-setting winning pot. “We definitely need to celebrate really well with the team, family, and everyone.”

The 26-year-old became the 10th first-time WTA Finals winner in a row and now finishes the tennis season ranked at No. 5 in the world. Rybakina also won the Strasbourg Open and Ningbo Open throughout the 2025 campaign en route to a career-high 58 wins.

Despite losing the WTA Finals in the last round for the second time, falling to Caroline Garcia in 2022, Sabalenka remained in good spirits and gave credit to her competitor where it was due.

“[Rybakina] played incredible,” Sabalenka said. “I feel like I did my best today. It didn't work, but I think so many things I have to be proud of. And yeah, I'm leaving this tournament without any disappointment.”