The Australian Open women’s final was on the program on Saturday. Aryna Sabalenka gave her challenger Qinwen Zheng no chance and confidently defended her title.
Set 1: An early break is enough for Sabalenka
Sabalenka started the match optimally and followed up a service without losing points with a break. In addition to her backhand whip, the second in the world rankings also showed herself to be at her best mentally: in her second service game, she resolutely defended herself against the re-break after 0:40 and scored five points in a row to make it 3-0, which was decisive in the first round. Because after that everything went “normal”. The duel became more even overall, but Sabalenka was no longer exposed on her own serve and secured the first round 6:3 with an ace.
Set 2: Zheng’s double fault paves the way
Set two also started well for the Belarusian: she gained a break point with a fantastic return, which she used to make it 1-0 with the kind help of the Chinese, who made a double fault in her first major final with a too risky serve. Sabalenka remained stable, dominated the match with strong service and, in crucial moments, with precise punches – Zheng was no match for her opponent’s strengths, especially in the return role.
Power coupled with precision paved the way for Sabalenka to make it 4-1 on her second break, when a powerful backhand cross played at an extreme angle opened up the field and a subsequent stop remained out of reach for Zheng. Now the 25-year-old from Minsk finally couldn’t let herself be taken away from her bread – even a 0:30 loss in the following game with her own service couldn’t unsettle her. The logical consequence was a 6:2 in the second set – Sabalenka initially missed five match points, but then used the sixth and thus deservedly and confidently defended her title from the previous year.
Zheng, who will climb to seventh place in the world rankings, can console herself with prize money of one million euros. A visibly relaxed Sabalenka, who collected 1.9 million euros and remained without losing a set throughout the tournament, thanked her team with the trophy in her arms with a humorous victory speech: “I’m speechless. It’s been an incredible few weeks, I couldn’t imagine to win here again.”