Rybakina Stuns Sabalenka to Win Record £4m Reward
Elena Rybakina secured her forty-fifth hard court triumph of the year
Rybakina won the largest prize in women's tennis all time by overcoming world number one Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets at the tournament.
The 26-year-old delivered a impressive performance to overcome four-times Grand Slam champion her opponent in two sets in the host country.
Since each competitor advanced through the competition without a loss, the prize money on offer was a record-breaking £3.98 million – the biggest prize offering in women's tennis history.
This amount surpasses the £3.74m the Belarusian received for winning the New York major, which was the most lucrative major tournament in the current year.
"This has been an fantastic tournament," stated the Kazakh player.
"Truly couldn't have predicted this outcome so to win the title was just remarkable."
"I want to say congratulations to Aryna for being number one for a second consecutive year in a row, it's an outstanding achievement."
The champion, who was the world number six, delivered 16 winners during a dominant opening set display.
Rybakina saved a couple of chances before winning all four points in the sixth game of the set to go a break up and served out to win the opening set.
With the second set on serve, Sabalenka saved another two break points at 4-4 to shift the balance in her favour.
But, having worked so hard to disrupt Rybakina's rhythm, Sabalenka let her opponent off the hook by squandering two set points in the following game to level the second set at five-all.
Sabalenka's failure to level the match affected her tiebreak performance, with Rybakina winning all seven points to take home the championship.
The victory, Rybakina's sixth over Sabalenka, means Rybakina will move up one place in the rankings to number five in the world.
An emotional Sabalenka was seen crying as she met with her team shortly after the match.
"It was not the finest display from me today but Elena you were certainly the superior player," the Belarusian addressed the audience.
"You literally overpowered me out of the court. I'm pleased to see you play your best tennis. Celebrate this beautiful trophy."