Aryna Sabalenka has become the first woman in over a decade to defend their title at the Australian Open after blasting her way past an inexperienced Qinwen Zheng.
The world No.2 showed little sign of nerves throughout her comprehensive 6-3, 6-2, win over 12th seed Zheng, who is only the second Chinese player in history to reach the final in Melbourne after Li Na. Sabalenka’s tactic of hitting heavy and deep towards the baseline drew numerous errors from her rival. Furthermore, she was dominant behind her first serve where she won 32 out of 38 points played and hit 13 winners against 14 unforced errors.
Sabalenka has become the first woman to defend her Australian Open title since compatriot Victoria Azarenka did so back in 2013. She has now won 14 Tour-level titles in her career with 12 of those being on a hardcourt.
“It has been an amazing couple of weeks, it is an unbelievable feeling right now,” Sabalenka said during the trophy presentation.
“My team, wow, thank you for everything.
“I never speak about my family in my winning speeches. I love you so much, you’re my biggest motivation and I’m doing it for you.”
Playing in her third major final against Zheng who was making her debut at the age of 21, Sabalenka started off guns blazing by claiming the first three games contested in the final. Although she was tested early on after battling back from a 0-40 deficit to hold her second service game. Despite that blip, the second seed continued to dictate play with the use of her powerful hitting against her opponent who was gradually starting to find some rhythm in her game. However, the problem for Zheng was that she struggled to find a way to tame the Sabalenka serve.
After less than 30 minutes of play, the second seed stormed to a trio of set points at 5-2 but failed to convert any of those due to some impressive play from her opponent. However, she triumphed in the following game where sealed the set out by hitting a blistering serve that Zheng returned out.
Despite her strong start, Sabalenka was wary that she still had work to do to avoid a repeat of what happened to her in the final of the 2023 US Open where she clinched the opener before losing to Coco Gauff. A thunderous forehand return followed by a costly Zheng double fault enabled her to break right away at the start of the second frame.
Shortly after this, the match came to a brief pause as a result of a protest. As Zheng was about to serve, outbursts of ‘free Palestine’ erupted from the crowd in what was yet another incident to occur at the event related to the ongoing situation in Gaza. According to witnesses, two people were involved in the latest disruption and they were showing a Palestinian flag during their demonstration.
On the court, Sabalenka continued to close in on her 66 Grand Slam win and her 22nd at the Australian Open. Serving for victory, she failed to convert her first two championship points due to forehand errors before a splendid Zheng drop shot saved the third. In the end, it was fourth time lucky after she hit a clean forehand cross-court winner.
“I want to say to Zheng, you’re such an incredible player such a young girl, I know it is disappointing to lose a final but you’ll get there,” Sabalenka commented.
Despite her loss, there are still plenty of positives for Zheng to take away with her. Her run to the final has sealed her place in the world’s top 10 for the first time in her career. Before playing Sabalenka, she hadn’t faced a top 50 player in the entire tournament.
“It’s my first (Grand Slam) final and I’m feeling a little bit pitty but that’s how it is. It’s an experience for me,” said Zheng.
“Right now I feel very complicated because I feel that I could have done better.
“I enjoyed playing this Australian Open Open, it was an amazing memory for me. I’m sure there is going to be more and better (ones) in the future.”
Sabalenka is only the second player in the last 20 years to have won her first two major titles at the Australian Open. She is also the fifth woman since 2000 to have won the Melbourne title without dropping a set in the entire tournament.
She exits the tournament with £1.68m in prize money and 2000 ranking points. However, she will remain in second place behind Iga Swiatek when the WTA standings are updated on Monday.
