Elena Rybakina left Riyadh with $4.88 million after winning the WTA Finals undefeated, the largest prize ever awarded in a women's sporting event. The payout exceeds the U.S. Open women's singles winner's $3.6 million and represents 26% more than Iga Świątek earned for the same title last year.
The WTA Finals moved to Saudi Arabia in 2024 on a three-year deal, with the Public Investment Fund guaranteeing a total purse of $15.25 million, up from $9 million in Fort Worth the prior season. Rybakina went 5-0 across round-robin and knockout play, earning $1,270,000 in round-robin match wins, $1,135,000 for semifinal and final victories, and a $2,475,000 winner's bonus. The structure rewards undefeated runs; a champion who drops one match collects roughly $4.5 million.
The Saudi agreement includes player accommodations at the Ritz-Carlton and charter flights for the top eight singles and eight doubles teams. The WTA received criticism from human rights organizations when the deal was announced in April, but tour leadership cited the financial gap: the 2023 Finals in Cancun offered a $9 million purse with minimal local sponsorship and sparse attendance. Riyadh sold 12,400 tickets across six sessions, with courtside sections priced at $800 and PIF-hosted suites for government and corporate delegations.
Rybakina's previous largest single-event check was $3 million for winning the 2023 Wimbledon title. Her 2024 season earnings now total $9.2 million in prize money, third on tour behind Aryna Sabalenka and Świątek. She carries no apparel contract after splitting with Nike in 2023 and has worn unbranded kits since, a rarity among top-ten players. Her racket deal with Yonex pays an estimated $1.5 million annually, low for a major champion, and she has no watch, car, or financial services partnerships. Agents circulated her Riyadh win to luxury sponsors within hours of the final.
The WTA's calendar structure now creates a prize imbalance: the year-end Finals in Saudi Arabia pays 35% more than the U.S. Open, the highest-paying major. The French Open offers $2.67 million to its women's champion, and Wimbledon pays $3.45 million. The disparity has prompted quiet conversations among players about whether the Finals should remain the tour's richest event or if the majors—owned separately by national federations—will respond. The Australian Open has already signaled a 12% prize increase for January 2025, though it declined to specify the women's singles winner's share.
Saudi Arabia is expected to bid for a WTA 1000-level event before the current Finals contract expires in 2026. The kingdom hosted an exhibition featuring Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, and Simona Halep in 2019, paying appearance fees reportedly near $1 million each. The ATP has no comparable event in the region, though the PIF has approached tour leadership about a combined 500-level tournament in Jeddah for 2026.
Rybakina's win also affects the tour's year-end ranking bonus pool, which distributes $6.5 million to the top twenty players based on season-long performance. She moves to No. 5 in the Race to the Finals standings, locking in an estimated $400,000 from that fund. The ranking points—1,500 for an undefeated champion—do not apply to the official WTA rankings, which froze after the Paris Masters, making the Finals a pure cash event for players outside the chase for year-end No. 1.
Watch for Rybakina's off-season sponsorship moves, particularly in the Middle East where regional brands have begun approaching WTA players independently of global deals. The 2025 WTA Finals returns to Riyadh in November, with the tour negotiating a potential purse increase to $18 million. Nike and Adidas are expected to submit competing apparel bids to Rybakina's camp before the Australian Open.
The takeaway
**$4.88M** prize shifts WTA's financial center away from majors and into markets willing to pay for tour assets outright.
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