The Belarusian Ariana Sabalenka (2) repeated crown Melbourne without conceding a single set in the entire competition, after winning the final of the Australian Open for the Chinese Qinwen Zheng (12) with 6-3 and 6-2, in one hour and 16 minutes.
The world’s second-ranked player became the first tennis player to successfully defend the title in the Oceanic major, since the conquests of her compatriot Victoria Azarenka in 2012 and 2013.
Sabalenka played a perfect tournament after not having to give up a set in her victories over the German Ella Seidel, Czech Brenda Fruhvirtova, Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenkothe American Amanda Anisimovathe Czech Barbara Krejcikova (9), the American Coco Gauff (4) and the Chinese Zheng.
It was her second victory over the Asian player, after the Belarusian won the only match they had before the final, in the quarter-finals of the United States Open (2023).
Exactly, this clash was the biggest encounter for the young woman. Zheng 21 years old, who only had a quarter-final appearance flowering meadows as the best result in a ‘slam’ for next Saturday’s final.
The Rod Laver Arena It was almost at full capacity and there was a noticeable presence of Chinese fans, who did not stop cheering the tennis player, coached by Catalan Pere Riba, throughout the match.
Sabalenka, with more experience in this type of scenario due to her two previous major finals, imposed her frenetic pace, accompanied by powerful serves, from the start of a clash in which Zheng could not easily join the rallies.
The Chinese got an early break that she could not correct by losing three points ‘counterbreaker’ and The Belarusian, who did not lower her level during the entire first set, scored the first set 6-3.
The Belarusian finished the first set with 94% first serve points, four winners and five unforced errors. Sabalenka’s pressure and depth caused a total of 19 forced errors.
The same dynamic was repeated in a second set, with the second seed gaining ground by converting another break that silenced a Rod Laver painted red in some sectors by the Chinese flags.
In the early part of the second set, a fan was ejected from the stadium after shouting “Free Palestine” before the Chinese player served.
The sound of Sabalenka’s punch, both on the forehand and on the backhand, unleashed shouts of amazement among the fans of a Rod Laver who had registered a similar sensation with the Italian’s clean forehand Jannik Sinner, during the men’s semi-finals against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.
The Chinese, who finished the match with 19 winners and 16 unforced errors, could not find the formula to prevent the unleashed proposal of Sabalenka, who scored the last set 6-2 after another break.
The champion missed the first four serving opportunities to close out the match, but scored the fifth match point after connecting with a forehand winner.
Sabalenka finished the match with 84% of points won on first serve, 14 winners and 14 unforced errors, and caused Zheng to commit 32 forced errors due to the demands of her furious stroke.
After the win, Sabalenka, who has a positive record of 2-1 in Grand Slam finals, will retain second position in the world, behind Poland’s Iga Swaatek (1).
Source: El heraldo

I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.