The tournament debutant began as the underdog for the final at the Singapore Indoor Stadium against Kerber, with the Germany having triumphed in their group stage meeting a week ago.

On that occasion Cibulkova had claimed the opening set of the match on a tie-break, but her start to the final was more empathic.

A break in Kerber’s opening service game provided the ideal platform for the Slovakian to gain control of proceedings.

The world number one broke back later in the set but Cibulkova immediately regained her advantage to win the opener 6-3.

Cibulkova’s serve had been vulnerable in her semi-final victory over Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova but it proved key to her success in the second set as she continued to hold with ease.

A break of Kerber’s serve put the Slovakian 4-3 up and moved her to the brink of victory at the event, which features the top eight available female players in the world rankings.

Cibulkova passed up her first three chances to seal the match before clinching victory on her fourth to triumph 6-3, 6-4.

"I have no words, coming here for the first time, the biggest tournament of my life," said Cibulkova after sealing the victory over the Australian Open and US Open champion.

"I still don't know how I won, I put the ball over the net and it went in.

"It is the happiest moment of my life."

The victory will also see Cibulkova rise to a career high fifth in the world rankings, while Kerber retains her spot as the number one.