Elena Rybakina was left with a big smile on her face after being told about the staggering amount of money she pocketed for winning the WTA Finals, but the 26-year-old insisted that she wasn't really focused on the money part in Riyadh.
Rybakina's third WTA Finals appearance was a dream one in every way possible. Firstly, the Kazakh went a perfect 3-0 in the Round Robin - made it past the group stage for the first time in her career - and wrote tennis history by becoming the first Kazakh to reach the knock-out stage in the season-ending tournament. Then, the world No. 5 went on to claim the title after beating Jessica Pegula in the semifinal and Aryna Sabalenka in the final, respectively.
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A maximum amount of money a player could have earned at this year's WTA Finals was $5.2 million. But for that to happen, a player needed to post a perfect 5-0 record. And Rybakina did exactly that.
Rybakina smiles after the $5.2 million prize money was brought up
"Well, it's definitely a huge amount... Honestly, I didn't think about any of that so much, but, of course, it's great, and we definitely need to celebrate really well with the team, family and everyone," the world No. 5 said.
Rybakina had just over $19 million in prize money before the WTA Finals started. Now, that total stands at $24.4 million. When it comes to only the 2025 season, the Kazakh bagged $8.4 million.
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In 2022, Rybakina collected $2.6 million for winning her maiden Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.
