Elena Rybakina left it late, with the last woman to qualify into the field for the WTA Finals in Saudi, toppling world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (0) on Saturday to lift the year-end title.   

Former Wimbledon winner Rybakina only booked the eighth and final spot in the showpiece at the last second, reaching a Tokyo semi-final last month to help her on the road to Riyadh.

Rybakina’s trophy – her third of the season – was worth in excess of UDS 5 million as the Saudis continue to move into tennis through the power of prize money and perks.

The Kazakh also lifted trophies in Strasbourg and Ningbo before becoming the 10th consecutive first-time WTA Finals champion. 

She wrapped up the season with a 58–19 record, a personal best. 

Rybakina took a 4-2 lead to win the opening set against the world’s top player and swept the second -set tiebreaker to lift the trophy.

Sabalenka ended the season with four titles including the US Open.

Emma Raducanu required a doctor’s attention for the second time in a Chinese match on Tuesday as the British hope made a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 exit from the WTA event in Ningbo.

A week after quitting her opening match in Wuhan with dizziness, Raducanu was treated on court for illness.

The No. 29 eventually lost to China’s Zhu Lin after winning the opening set but asking for the doctor seven games into the second set.

Raducanu had her vital signs checked at her chair and returned to the battle only to lose the second and call for another time out in the third set, where she received a back massage.   

Half-Chinese Raducanu had been hoping for a stronger autumn showing her mother’s homeland during the WTA Asian swing. But her best showing from four events was a Beijing third round and a loss to Jessica Pegula.

Emma Raducanu has handed WTA tournament organisers another in a long series of disappointments, with the fading former Grand Slam champion withdrawing on Tuesday from the Hong Kong Open.

The pullout from next week’s event in the SAR marks the fifth no-show for the British No. 55 this autumn.

Raducanu, who won the 2021 US Open and has since fallen flat with injuries and seemingly endless coaching changes, looks to have all but ended her season.

She is joined on the sidelines in Hong Kong by fellow injury victim and former Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka.

Raducanu has not played in well over a month, quitting mid-match with a September foot injury in South Korea and still troubled by various physical problems

She has pulled out of Chinese events in Beijing, Wuhan, Ningbo and  Guangzhou.

Raducanu is replaced in the HKG draw by American Sofia Kenin.