Elena Rybakina finished her 2024 season on a high note by beating world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in three sets at the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh.

The world No 5 prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 against Sabalenka in her third and final round robin match at the year-end championships.

Rybakina knew she could not progress to the semi-finals prior to the match as she lost to Jasmine Paolini and Zheng Qinwen in her other two group stage contests. Sabalenka had already sealed her progress to the last four by beating both Zheng and Paolini.

Despite being eliminated, Rybakina had outlined her intention to make the match “difficult” for Sabalenka after losing to Zheng on Monday.

In the opening set, Rybakina broke Sabalenka three times as she overturned a 1-3 deficit to become the first player to win a set against Sabalenka in Riyadh.

Sabalenka leveled the match after securing the only break of the second set at 4-3, but Rybakina broke twice in the decider to earn a convincing victory.

“It was a tough match,” Rybakina said in her post-match interview. “I’m really happy I managed to win. It’s nice to finish the year with at least one win against the world No 1. She has all the chances to win also. Good luck to her.

“I’m just happy. Thank you so much guys for the support. Every match I played here was a bit better. It’s not easy after such a long break.

“Today I served really well. From both sides we made mistakes, sometimes it was lucky for me. Overall I think it was a good one for me. I’m really enjoying the atmosphere. Thanks again for all the support.”

Rybakina is the first player to defeat Sabalenka since the three-time Grand Slam winner displaced Iga Swiatek at the top of the WTA Rankings last week.

Sabalenka had lost only one match since early August — to Karolina Muchova in Beijing last month — prior to this.

By downing Sabalenka, Rybakina has become just the fourth player to record six or more wins against players ranked No 1 in the world in a two-season span since the WTA Rankings were introduced.

Since the start of 2023, the 25-year-old has earned four wins against a top-ranked Swiatek (three in 2023 and one in 2024) and two against a No 1-ranked Sabalenka (one in 2023, one in 2024).

The other three players to accomplish this are all American: Tracy Austin (1979-1980), Venus Williams (1999-2000) and Lindsay Davenport (2000-2001).

Rybakina is also the first player representing an Asian nation to defeat a world No 1 in a completed match at the WTA Finals since the inception of the rankings.

The 2022 Wimbledon winner, who was born in Moscow, has represented Kazakhstan since 2018.