WATCH: Elena Rybakina grins from ear to ear as she reacts to her 'huge' $5.2 million payday & discusses celebration plans after WTA Finals win

Elena Rybakina was recently crowned champion at the 2025 WTA Finals and she walked away from the tournament with a cash prize of $5,235,000, the largest payout in WTA history. After her triumph, the Kazakh couldn't stop grinning as she discussed how she's going to put the prize money to use.

Rybakina enjoyed a fantastic week of action in Riyadh. She kicked off her campaign at the WTA Finals on a strong note as she dominated her group stage matches, defeating Amanda Anisimova, Iga Swiatek and Ekaterina Alexandrova with ease. The 26-year-old then ousted Jessica Pegula in the semifinals, before handing out a straight sets defeat to World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the finals.

After the match, a journalist at a press conference reminded Elena Rybakina of the hefty cheque she'd received as a result of her WTA Finals victory and the Kazakh couldn't stop smiling as she divulged her plans for putting the money to use, saying,

“Well it's definitely a huge amount and 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.”

Elena Rybakina sets sights on 2026 season after WTA Finals triumph

Rybakina at the 2025 WTA Finals 2025 (Image Source: Getty)

Elena Rybakina's 2025 season got off to a difficult start. The 26-year-old made early exits at several big events, including the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon Championships. However, the Kazakh turned things around for herself in the latter half of the year, clinching the Ningbo Open title and reaching the semifinals of the Japan Open.

Rybakina topped her season off with a title finish at the WTA Finals and the Kazakh is keen to take her positive experience from Riyadh into her 2026 season. In a conversation with WTA, the tennis star outlined her plans for the upcoming year, saying,

“All that happened this week, I can bring to the next season. It gives me so much more motivation to work even more because we did good progress in the little blocks between the tournaments. Physically, even when I wasn’t at my best, we did a good job. I’ve experienced winning a Slam, losing in a final to Aryna [2023 Australian Open] … each match like this brings so much experience and this time it went my way, everything worked. I’ll try to carry every positive thing from this tournament into my next big matches.”

With her dash to the top of the podium at the WTA Finals, Elena Rybakina will end the 2025 season ranked fifth in the world, her best year-end performance till date.

Edited by Riddhi Acharya