Elena Rybakina Breaks Decade Old Record

Elena Rybakina capped off an incredible end to her 2025 season by winning her second-biggest title at the WTA Finals and surpassing 500 aces. She was undefeated in her run to the final and overpowered World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets in the final match in Riyadh to take home the most prestigious trophy outside the four Grand Slams.

With Saturday’s victory over Sabalenka, she secured her 10th Top 10 win of the season and bagged $5.23 million in prize money, the highest amount in a WTA-sanctioned event. This was her third title of the season and will start her in the new year on an 11-match winning streak.

Rybakina hit over 500 aces in 2025

Rybakina led the WTA ace chart in 2025, hammering 516 aces, including 13 in knocking off Sabalenka in the final. According to WTA stats, she is the first WTA player to breach the 500-mark since Karolina Pliskova almost a decade ago.

The Kazakh finished comfortably on top with second-placed Linda Noskova managing 373 aces and Denmark’s Clara Tauson in third spot, tallying 358. Ekaterina Alexandrova (339) and Naomi Osaka (307) complete the top five in this list.

Having finished runner-up three times in the ace count over the last three years, Rybakina’s serve proved to be a destructive shot from the baseline. For WTA players who played three or more matches this year, Rybakina had the highest figure of first-serve points won (74.4%) and averaged 64.1% of total points won on serve (also better than the rest of the tour). She also led the field in service games won (82.5%).

Rybakina hit fewer double faults (222) than five of the world’s Top 10 players, which underlines the consistency of her first serve.

After a stuttering start to the season without a single final in the first four months, Rybakina found form in the nick of time. She was undefeated in her last three tournaments and achieved a top-five year-end ranking.