Elena Rybakina capped a flawless week at the WTA Finals by stunning world number one Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6(0) in the final for her first trophy in the season-ending championships and a record $US5.235 million ($8.06 million) in prize money.

The last stop of this season's WTA Tour kicked off with four different grand slam champions in the field, but ultimately went to a player who did not even reach the quarterfinals of a major in 2025 and was the last to qualify with a win in Ningbo and a run to the Tokyo semifinals.

Rybakina earned 1,500 points — her biggest haul — after she was denied any for her 2022 Wimbledon win when the ATP and WTA penalised the major for banning Russian and Belarusian players from playing in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Loading Twitter content

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