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Rybakina secured the largest reward in women's tennis history by defeating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets at the tournament.

The 26-year-old delivered a stunning display to overcome four-time major champion Sabalenka 6-3 7-6 (7-0) in Saudi Arabia.

Since each competitor came through the competition without a loss, the prize money on the table was a historic £3.98 million – the largest payout awarded in WTA history.

The reward surpasses the £3.74 million the Belarusian received for winning September's New York major, which was the highest-paying Grand Slam in the current year.

"This has been an amazing week," said Rybakina.

"Truly couldn't have predicted this outcome so to go so far was just incredible."

"I want to say congratulations to Sabalenka for being number one for a second year in a row, it's an outstanding accomplishment."

The champion, who was the world number six, hit sixteen winners during a dominant opening set display.

Rybakina fended off two chances before winning every point in the sixth game of the set to take the break and served out to seal the first set.

With the second set on serve, the world number one saved two break points at four-all to swing the momentum in her favour.

But, having worked so hard to disrupt her opponent's flow, the top seed let her opponent off the hook by wasting two chances in the following game to level the set at five-all.

Her inability to level the match impacted her tie-break performance, with the Kazakh winning every point to win the title.

The victory, her sixth triumph over Sabalenka, means she will move up one place in the WTA rankings to number five in the world.

A distraught the runner-up appeared to be in tears as she met with her team soon after the final.

"It was not the best performance from me in this match but Rybakina you were certainly the superior competitor," Sabalenka told the crowd.

"You really smashed me on court. I'm pleased to see you at your peak. Enjoy this stunning title."