The 2025 WTA season came to an end on Saturday as Elena Rybakina defeated world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to claim the WTA Finals title - and an unprecedented £4m ($5.235m) winners' cheque. The Kazakh went undefeated during the week in Riyadh, winning all three of her group stage matches, the semi-final, and the final, ensuring she got the biggest payout possible.

It's a historic moment - the £4m cheque is the biggest prize money payout in women's sports, and is a record across the ATP and WTA Tours. It means that even Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner won't be able to earn as much as Rybakina next week in Turin, where they are competing in the ATP Finals.

Rybakina defeated Amanda Anisimova, Iga Swiatek, and Ekaterina Alexandrova in her three group matches. Each round-robin win came with £271k ($355k) in earnings.

The world No. 6 then beat Jessica Pegula in the semis, bagging another £986k ($1.29m) for her efforts. Rybakina finished off the week - and her 2025 season - with a 6-3 7-6(0) win over Sabalenka in the final. The win was worth £1.9m ($2.54m), bringing her total prize to £4m.

The 26-year-old already has a Grand Slam title under her belt, having won Wimbledon in 2022, but this is the largest prize cheque she, or any tennis player, has ever received. Rybakina has no wild plans to spend the money, however.

"Well, it's definitely a huge amount and honestly, I didn't think about any of that so much," the world No. 6 said following her triumph in Riyadh.

"But of course, it's great and I don't know, we definitely need to celebrate really well with the team, family and everyone."

Earlier this year, Sabalenka and Alcaraz both bagged an eyewatering £3.8m ($5m) for winning the US Open singles titles. There's also a large amount on the table at the ATP Finals in Turin this coming week, but an undefeated champion still wouldn't earn as much as Rybakina.

An undefeated champion at the men's season-ending championships would receive £3.876m ($5.071m) in prize money, just shy of Rybakina's unprecedented winners' cheque.

Sinner won the ATP Finals without losing a match in 2024 and received £3.73m ($4.881m). The Italian will be hoping to defend his title over the next week, and has been drawn in the Bjorn Borg Group, with Alexander Zverev, Ben Shelton, and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Coincidentally, they are the three men he beat in the last three rounds of the recent Paris Masters, where he lifted the trophy. Sinner is also locked in battle with Alcaraz for the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Alcaraz - who has never been beyond the semi-finals of the ATP Finals - is in the Jimmy Connors Group with Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, and Lorenzo Musetti. He beat De Minaur in his opening match on Sunday.