Rybakina beats No. 1-ranked Sabalenka to win WTA Finals

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Elena Rybakina won the WTA Finals after producing a nearly flawless performance to beat No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (0) on Saturday.

The sixth-ranked Rybakina struck eight aces and converted the sole break of the match on the indoor hardcourt in Riyadh.

“It’s been an incredible week. I honestly didn’t expect any result and to go so far is just incredible,” Rybakina said about a title run that included wins over No. 2-seeded Iga Swiatek, Amanda Anisimova and Jessica Pegula.

It was a second loss in the final of the season-ending tournament for Sabalenka after the four-time Grand Slam winner lost to Caroline Garcia in the 2022 title match.

Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, was playing her first title match in her third consecutive WTA Finals appearance.

She collected $5.23 million after going 5-0 at the event featuring the top eight women. The WTA said that was the largest payout in the history of women’s sports. Sabalenka earned $2.7 million as runner-up.

Rybakina broke for a 4-2 lead in the first set, and Sabalenka then saved four break points in the second to force the tiebreaker. The Belarusian entered the match with a 22–2 record in tiebreakers this year, but was shut out in this one — hitting a backhand return long on match point.

Rybakina recorded her tour-best 45th hardcourt win of the season. The 26-year-old Kazakhstani became the 10th straight first-time winner of the WTA Finals. She will finish the year at a career-high No. 5 in the rankings after a 58–19 record that included three titles.

Sabalenka will finish ranked No. 1 for a second straight season. This year, she won four titles, including the U.S. Open, and had 63 match wins. She also reached the finals of the French Open and Australian Open.

“She played incredible,” Sabalenka said about Rybakina. “I feel like I did my best today. It didn’t work, but I think so many things I have to be proud of. And yeah, I’m leaving this tournament without any disappointment."

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Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, right, holds her trophy poses with runner up Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus during the awards ceremony for the women's singles final match of the WTA finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/ Fatima Shbair)

Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan poses with the trophy after defeating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the women's final singles match of the WTA finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/ Fatima Shbair)

Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan poses with the trophy after defeating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the women's final singles match of the WTA finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/ Fatima Shbair)

Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan greets Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus after defeating her in the women's final singles match of the WTA finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/ Fatima Shbair)

Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan celebrates after defeating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the women's final singles match of the WTA finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/ Fatima Shbair)

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts against Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan during their women's final singles match of the WTA finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/ Fatima Shbair)

Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan celebrates after defeating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the women's final singles match of the WTA finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/ Fatima Shbair)

U.S. President Donald Trump said the military could end its Iran offensive in two to three weeks and will shift responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz to countries that rely on it for oil and shipping as the White House announced a prime-time presidential address Wednesday evening on the war.

Trump expressed frustration Tuesday with allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the U.S. war effort, telling them to “go get your own oil.” Trump recently has vacillated between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war.

He said the U.S. “will not have anything to do with” what happens next in the vital waterway that has been closed by the Islamic Republic. Instead, he told reporters, the responsibility for keeping the strait open will rest with countries that rely on it. Gulf states rely on the waterway for both exports and imports, including food, and 20 percent of the world's oil supply flows through it.

U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday, as the Iran war continues to push fuel prices higher worldwide. Analysts say those high fuel costs will trickle into groceries as businesses’ transportation and packaging costs pile up.

Here is the latest:

A drone attack has killed a citizen of Bangladesh in Fujairah, one of the UAE’s seven emirates, authorities said.

He was killed Wednesday when Emirati air defense systems intercepted a drone, and shrapnel landed in a farm, the Fujairah media office said.

The fatality has brought the death toll in the UAE to nine civilians and two soldiers. A Moroccan contractor with the UAE army was also killed in Bahrain.

Earlier Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed two Iranian drones.

Emergency personnel said an 11-year-old girl was severely wounded in central Israel in the latest missile attack from Iran.

Two more people suffered moderate injuries including a 13-year-old boy and a 36-year-old woman, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services.

Iran’s foreign minister has acknowledged receiving direct messages from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

The comments by Abbas Araghchi came in an interview with pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera aired late Tuesday. He insisted that the messages didn’t constitute negotiations.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly described Iran and America has having talks over the war, while Pakistan has been a key intermediary along with Egypt and Turkey during the conflict.

“I receive messages from Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations,” he said.

He added: “We do not have any faith that negotiations with the U.S. will yield any results. The trust level is at zero.”

Asked about a possible ground offensive by the U.S., Araghchi said “we are waiting for them.”

“We know very well how to defend ourselves,” Araghchi reportedly told the Qatar-based broadcaster. “In a ground war, we can do it even better. We are completely ready to confront any sort of ground attack. We hope they do not make such a mistake.”

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said in a preliminary count early Wednesday 21 people were also wounded in the strike in Jnah.

The strike came without warning, and Israel did not declare the target. When it does, it often says it is targeting operatives from the Hezbollah militant group.

Emergency workers rushed to the scene to search for victims.

Israel’s military warned the public Wednesday a missile was incoming from Yemen, yet another attack from the country’s Houthi rebels who have just entered the war on Iran’s side.

Air raid sirens went off in southern Israel, from Beersheba to the Mediterranean coast.

The warning, just around dawn, broke a long lull, more than 19 hours since the last time Israel’s military warned of an incoming missile launch from Iran, and more than six hours from the last alarms in the northern part of Israel, which in past days received near-constant fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A drone attack by Iran and its allies hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a fire, authorities said.

The state-run KUNA news agency said the attack early Wednesday sparked a “large fire” at the airport.

It said there were no immediate injuries from the attack and firefighters were working to control the blaze.

Kuwait International Airport has been attacked before by Iran during the war. The KUNA report suggested the attack may have been launched by Iranian-supported militias in Iraq with Tehran’s support.

In another strike, Bahrain said early on Wednesday morning that it was working to extinguish a fire at a business facility that resulted from an Iranian attack.

Israel said early Wednesday it struck a plant supplying Iran’s theocracy with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, to allegedly use in a chemical weapons program. Iran acknowledged the strike on Tofigh Daru factory, but insisted it only supplied “hospital drugs” used in medical operations.

The strike happened Tuesday, both the Israelis and the Iranians said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted a picture of the factory in Tehran, writing on X: “The war criminals in Israel are now openly and unashamedly bombing pharmaceutical companies.”

Hospitals extensively use fentanyl to treat severe pain. But a small amount of the drug can be fatal.

Both Israel and the United States have warned in recent years Iran was experimenting with fentanyl in munitions. The U.S. previously pointed to Iranian academic research studying how Russia likely used a fentanyl derivative during the 2002 Moscow theater hostage seizure by Chechen militants.

Israel alleged Tofigh Daru supplied fentanyl to an advanced research institute in Tehran, known by its acronym SPND. The U.S alleges SPND has conducted research and testing that could be applicable to the development of nuclear explosive devices and other weapons.

The United Arab Emirates has barred Iranians from entering or transiting the country as the war rages, three major airlines said Wednesday.

Long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad, as well as the lower-cost airline FlyDubai, made the announcements on their websites.

Entry rules can sometimes be opaque in the autocratic United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, the three airlines agreed on the order. It said holders of 10-year Golden Visa residency permits could still enter the country.

Authorities have offered no official comment. But Dubai has already shut down the city-state’s Iranian Hospital and Iranian Club, institutions that date back to the time of the shah.

Residents and Israeli security forces inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A man inspect the wreckage of an Iranian missile that landed near the West Bank village of Marda, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike hits a building near the airport road in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A family who fled Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon warm themselves by a bonfire next to tents used as shelters in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)