Elena Rybakina Upsets Sabalenka to Win Historic £4m Payout

Rybakina won the greatest prize in women's tennis history by beating top-ranked Sabalenka in two sets at the championship.

The 26-year-old produced a stunning display to beat four-time major champion her opponent 6-3 7-6 (7-0) in the host country.

Since both players came through the event without a loss, the purse on the table was a record-breaking £3.98m – the largest prize awarded in women's tennis the sport's history.

The reward exceeds the £3.74m the Belarusian earned for claiming the New York major, which was the highest-paying major tournament in the current year.

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

"I honestly couldn't have predicted this outcome so to go so far was just remarkable."

"I want to say praise to Sabalenka for holding the top spot for a second consecutive year in a row, it's an tremendous achievement."

The champion, who was the sixth-ranked player, delivered 16 winners during a impressive opening set performance.

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

With the second set on serve, Sabalenka saved two opportunities at 4-4 to swing the momentum in her favour.

However, having worked so hard to upset her opponent's flow, the top seed failed to capitalize by squandering two chances in the next game to level the second set at five-all.

Her inability to force a decider impacted her tie-break performance, with the Kazakh winning all seven points to win the championship.

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

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

"It was not the best performance from me in this match but Elena you were certainly the better competitor," Sabalenka addressed the crowd.

"You really overpowered me out of the court. I'm happy to see you at your peak. Celebrate this beautiful title."