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Elena Rybakina won the largest reward in women's tennis all time by beating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in two sets at the tournament.

Rybakina delivered a brilliant performance to defeat four-times Grand Slam champion Sabalenka 6-3 7-6 (7-0) in Saudi Arabia.

Because both players advanced through the event without a loss, the prize money on offer was a unprecedented £3.98 million – the highest prize offering in WTA the sport's history.

The reward exceeds the £3.74m Sabalenka won for winning September's New York major, which was the most lucrative Grand Slam in the current year.

"It's been an incredible week," stated the Kazakh player.

"Truly didn't expect any result so to go so far was just remarkable."

"I want to say praise to Sabalenka for holding the top spot for a second year in a row, it's an tremendous achievement."

The champion, who was the sixth-ranked player, delivered 16 winners during a impressive opening set performance.

Rybakina fended off a couple of chances before taking every point in the sixth game to go a break up and served out to win the first set.

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

However, having worked so hard to upset her opponent's flow, the top seed failed to capitalize by wasting a pair of set points in the following game to level the second set at 5-5.

Her inability to level the match impacted her tiebreak play, with the Kazakh taking all seven points to win the championship.

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

An emotional the runner-up was seen crying as she met with her team shortly after the final.

"That was not the finest performance from me in this match but Elena you were definitely the better player," the Belarusian told the crowd.

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