Crafting a Grand Final fairy tale and claiming a massive prize of 37.21 million, netizens after the match said: Unexpectedly, Leylah Fernandez would win.

A fresh WTA year-end championship story unfolded in Riyadh, authored entirely by the Kazakh beauty Leylah Fernandez!

Many find it intriguing how Leylah made her debut at this year's year-end finals. If she hadn’t pushed hard to stabilize her form during the final Asian season—winning the Ningbo 500 event and reaching the Tokyo 500 semifinals—her chances of appearing at the Riyadh year-end finals would have been very slim.

Even though Leylah managed a late surge to overtake Andreyeva and secure her spot at the year-end finals, many remained skeptical about her prospects there. Some even bluntly stated that the Kazakh beauty might struggle to advance beyond the group stage.

The main reason some doubted Leylah was her inconsistent form, which fluctuated too much. Early on, she had to force herself to stabilize her game to qualify for the year-end finals; after achieving that goal, many believed that relaxing mentally might quickly bring back her old inconsistencies.

However, this time Leylah truly impressed everyone; the excellent form and consistency she showed in the latter part of the Asian season were not forced but reflected her genuine return to peak performance.

When Leylah advanced to the semifinals with an undefeated group stage record and then defeated the wealthy American Pegula in the semis, she became one of the favorites to win. Still, facing world number one and hardcourt queen Sabalenka in the final, many thought beating the Belarusian would not be easy.

Sabalenka openly expressed her intentions before the final against Leylah, saying she would hold nothing back and fully pursue the title: “I’m super excited to face Leylah. I’m ready to drain every last drop of energy from this season’s tank. This is the final battle of the year, and I’m prepared to fight.”

In contrast to Sabalenka’s straightforwardness, Leylah was noticeably cautious in her interview about the championship match: “She’s a fantastic Grand Slam champion. Playing against her is always tough; her serve and shots are very powerful.”

Leylah also emphasized that only by maintaining intense focus during the match could she possibly challenge Sabalenka. She was unsure about her chances of winning but vowed not to let the match become one-sided early on.

Moreover, another incident involving Leylah before the match led many to believe the Kazakh beauty was likely to lose easily, with some even prematurely suggesting the title should be awarded to Sabalenka in advance.

“I will do everything possible to recover.” Although Leylah fought through a tough three-set semifinal win over Pegula, she suffered a recurrence of a right shoulder injury. With Sabalenka confident and in form, and Leylah injured at such a critical moment, it seemed very difficult to stop the Belarusian from winning.

Fans and netizens joked before the match that Sabalenka might go easy on Leylah due to her injury and not be too harsh, so the score wouldn’t be too lopsided. However, what happened next shocked everyone.

People expected that Leylah, playing injured against Sabalenka’s powerful style, would struggle to resist. But from the very start of the first set, there was no sign of a quick defeat. Instead, the Kazakh’s performance showed no indication of being hampered by injury, and she played excellently in the intense exchanges with Sabalenka.

Even after Leylah took the first set 6-3, many viewers still thought she was just barely holding on and that Sabalenka would ultimately prevail.

Especially in the second set tiebreak, considering the wear from their previous battles and Leylah’s injury, many predicted Sabalenka would launch her comeback from the tiebreak, saying, “Just wait and see!”

Surprisingly, in the tiebreak, Leylah played as if possessed by a warrior spirit, completely stunning Sabalenka and decisively winning without dropping a point, sealing the tiebreak victory and capturing the year-end championship trophy.

After Leylah’s victory, many expressed disbelief that the Kazakh beauty had won the title, given the severity of her pre-match injury reports. No one expected her to decisively defeat Sabalenka under such special circumstances.

Additionally, by winning the year-end finals undefeated, Leylah also claimed the tournament’s record prize of $5.235 million, equivalent to over 37.21 million RMB.

The way Leylah qualified for the year-end finals this year and then fought all the way to the title has been called a fairy tale in the history of the year-end championships by fans and netizens—not only beautiful but highly inspiring!(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Moon River’s Starry Sky)