The last player to qualify for this year’s WTA Finals ended up walking away with the largest official cheque in tennis history as Elena Rybakina outhit the world No1 Aryna Sabalenka to win a prize of almost £4million.
Kazahstan’s Rybakina is best renowned for winning the 2022 Wimbledon title in a run of seven consecutive victories for which she was given £2million. Over the past week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, she has earned double that amount for five victories against the world’s best players at the season-ending championships.
Rybakina, 26, saved the best for last with a masterly display of ballstriking in the final against the four-times grand slam champion Sabalenka. She triumphed 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) after hitting 13 aces and saving all five break points she faced.
Sabalenka is not short of her power herself, famously recording a higher average forehand speed than Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at last year’s US Open. But this time she could not keep up with Rybakina, who was 8mph ahead at 78mph on the forehand side and 11mph ahead at 72mph on her backhand.
“I was just trying to be solid from the beginning to the end,” Rybakina said. “With Aryna it is very difficult to play when she has a good day. It was 50-50 and I was just trying to stay strong and fight for each ball. I am very glad and proud for what I achieved at the end of this season.”
Rybakina was the eighth and final player to confirm her WTA Finals spot last month after winning the Ningbo Open and reaching the semi-finals of the Pan Pacific Open. She now finishes the year at a world ranking of No5, and will fancy her chances of doing well on the Australian Open’s hard courts in January.
There was some controversy afterwards when Rybakina refused to stand beside the WTA’s chief executive, Portia Archer, for the traditional post-match photographs. This comes about two months after Rybakina’s coach Stefano Vukov was successful in his appeal against a suspension imposed by the WTA for an alleged behavioural breach of the tour’s code of conduct. Rybakina has repeatedly insisted that Vukov never mistreated her.
Sabalenka fought back tears in her post-match speech but will still end the year as world No1
LINNEA RHEBORG/GETTY IMAGES/WTA
Despite the defeat, Sabalenka still claims the year-end No1 ranking ahead of her rival Iga Swiatek. The 27-year-old added to her grand-slam collection at this year’s US Open, but there was disappointment at a string of near-misses by finishing runner-up at the Australian Open, French Open and now the WTA Finals. During her post-match speech on Saturday she fought back tears.
“I guess I’m getting old and I’m getting really sensitive,” Sabalenka said of her emotions. “It was not the best performance from me but, Elena, you were definitely the better player today. You literally smashed me out of the court.”
Elsewhere, 38-year-old Novak Djokovic won the Hellenic Championship in Athens to become the oldest champion in a men’s singles tour-level event since 43-year-old Ken Rosewall at the 1977 Hong Kong Open. It is a 101st ATP trophy for Djokovic, putting him only two behind Roger Federer and eight behind the record-holder Jimmy Connors.
Djokovic had to dig deep to prevail, coming back from a set down to beat Lorenzo Musetti, the world No9 from Italy, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a thrilling three-hour contest. The final set alone lasted 90 minutes, with Djokovic serving out the victory on his second attempt. Having won the Geneva Open on clay in May, this is his first title on a hard court since the 2023 ATP Finals.
Djokovic celebrated winning his 101st ATP title by ripping off his top in delight
COSTAS BALTAS/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES
“It was an incredible battle,” Djokovic said. “Three hours of just a gruelling match, which was physically super demanding. Lorenzo played really well. It could have been anybody’s match, so congratulations to him for an amazing performance. I am just very proud of myself to get through this one.”
Djokovic, however, will not take up his place as the No4 qualifier at the ATP Finals. He confirmed his withdrawal from the event about an hour after his win in Athens, bringing a close to his season. This gave the first alternate Musetti a late reprieve, as he had needed a victory against Djokovic to beat Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime to the final automatic spot in Turin.
In the final of the Moselle Open in Metz, Cameron Norrie let slip an opportunity to win a title before his season came to an end. The British No2 was 5-1 up in the deciding third-set tiebreak against America’s Learner Tien but could only win one of the next eight points as his opponent came storming back for a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) victory.
Norrie will end the year at No27 in the world rankings and will be seeded at the Australian Open
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This was an agonising defeat for Norrie, who was trying to make a successful comeback from a set down for the fourth time this week, but it will at least be of some consolation that a runner-up finish is enough to secure a year-end ranking of No27, meaning that he will be seeded inside the top 32 at the Australian Open.
For Tien, this is a significant breakthrough in the early stages of his promising career. The 19-year-old can celebrate a first ATP tour title and a new career-high ranking of No28, which means he will also be seeded at the Australian Open. It has been an impressive rise considering that he started this year as the world No121 in qualifying at Melbourne Park