Aryna Sabalenka shows true colours as she changes her tune after apologising to rival

Aryna Sabalenka choked back tears after suffering a heartbreaking defeat to Elena Rybakina in the final of the WTA Finals on Saturday. But she quickly put the disappointment behind her as she extolled her opponent for her performance at the King Saud University Indoor Arena.

Sabalenka has enjoyed a fine season on the tennis court and clinched the fourth Grand Slam trophy of her career in September when she landed the US Open for the second consecutive year. She then won all three of her group stage matches at the WTA Finals, before overcoming Amanda Anisimova in the semi-finals. But she couldn't get the better of the in-form Rybakina, who rounded off a sensational run of form in Saudi Arabia by clinching the main prize to bag herself a whopping £3.9million.

Despite her US Open triumph, Sabalenka has suffered her fair share of disappointment this year after losing in the showpiece matches at the Australian Open and the French Open.

She didn't take her French Open defeat to Coco Gauff as well as she would have liked as she refused to praise the champion after the showdown.

"I think she won the match not because she played incredible, [but] just because I made all of those mistakes," the Belarusian exclaimed.

Sabalenka later apologised to Gauff as she admitted: "That was just completely unprofessional of me. I let my emotions get the better of me. I'm just a human being who's still learning in life. I think we all have those days when we lose control. I wrote to Coco afterwards - not immediately, but recently."

Sabalenka was clearly emotional to lose another final at the weekend as she burst into tears on the court.

But then she heaped praise on Rybakina as she said during her on-court interview: "Thank you guys for an incredible atmosphere the whole week. I really enjoy playing in front of you. Today especially maybe not the best performance.

"But Elena, you were definitely a better player today. You literally smashed me out of the court so... Very well done.

"Happy to see you playing your best tennis and a nice comeback at the end of the season. Now it's time to enjoy our offseason. Enjoy this beautiful trophy."

The world No. 1 later explained in her press conference: "After a little time, I feel actually great. I lost this match. She played incredible.

"I feel like I did my best today. It didn't work. But I leave this tournament being proud of myself and the things that we've been able to achieve."