Elena Rybakina pockets era-defining multi-million-pound payday even Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner can’t touch

The 2025 season of the WTA came to an end on Sunday with Elena Rybakina winning the Tour Finals after beating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the summit clash. The world No. 6 produced a near-flawless display on the indoor hardcourt in Riyadh, defeating Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (0) to clinch the WTA Finals title for the first time in her career. Along with the trophy came a historic winners’ cheque, a payout so huge that even ATP stars Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner won’t be able to match.

Rybakina received a jaw-dropping £4m cheque after completing an unbeaten run in the WTA Finals. It is the biggest prize money payout in women’s sports, and stands as a record across both ATP and WTA Tours. This means that even Alcaraz and Sinner won’t be able to pocket that amount at the end of their campaign in the ongoing ATP Finals in Turin.

It is to be understood that Rybakina pocketed the amount owing to an undefeated run in the tournament. She beat Amanda Anisimova, Iga Swiatek, and Ekaterina Alexandrova in her three group-stage matches, with each win guaranteeing £271k ($355k) in earnings. The Kazakh then defeated Jessica Pegula in the semis to bag another £986k ($1.29m) for her efforts, before adding £1.9m ($2.54m) purse after the win against Sabalenka in the final, bringing her total prize money to £4m. The undefeated champion in Turin will receive £3.876m ($5.071m) in prize money.

Rybakina’s paycheck is even bigger than what Sabalenka and Alcaraz bagged at the US Open (£3.8m), which was the highest amount won by any singles Grand Slam winner in history.

“Well, it’s definitely a huge amount and honestly, I didn’t think about any of that so much,” Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, said when asked how she plans to spend the money. “But of course, it’s great and I don’t know, we definitely need to celebrate really well with the team, family and everyone.”