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Rybakina secured the greatest payday in women's tennis history by beating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets at the championship.

The 26-year-old produced a stunning performance to defeat four-times major champion her opponent 6-3 7-6 (7-0) in Saudi Arabia.

Since each competitor advanced through the competition without a loss, the purse on the table was a historic £3.98 million – the largest payout offering in women's tennis history.

This amount surpasses the £3.74 million Sabalenka earned for claiming September's New York major, which was the highest-paying major tournament in the current year.

"This has been an fantastic week," stated the Kazakh player.

"Truly couldn't have predicted this outcome so to win the title was just remarkable."

"I want to say praise to Aryna for being number one for a second consecutive year in a row, it's an incredible accomplishment."

The champion, who was the world number six, delivered 16 winners during a commanding opening set performance.

Rybakina fended off two chances before taking all four points in the sixth game to take the break and held her serve to win the first set.

With the second set on serve, the world number one defended two break points at 4-4 to swing the momentum in her favour.

But, after fighting back to upset her opponent's flow, the top seed let her opponent off the hook by wasting a pair of set points in the following game to tie the second set at five-all.

Sabalenka's failure to force a decider impacted her tiebreak play, with Rybakina taking every point to win the championship.

This win, Rybakina's sixth over her rival, means Rybakina will move up one spot in the rankings to fifth in the world rankings.

A distraught the runner-up appeared to be in tears as she sat with her coaching team shortly after the match.

"That was not the best display from me today but Rybakina you were certainly the superior player," the Belarusian told the crowd.

"You literally overpowered me on court. I'm happy to see you play your best tennis. Enjoy this stunning trophy."