Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka will try to win a second Australian Open trophy against Qinwen Zheng.
Last year's Australian Open saw Aryna Sabalenka win her maiden Grand Slam trophy. It was the first final she had ever played, and it was a winning effort, as she bested Elena Rybakina in the final.
One year later, she has a chance to win her second Grand Slam at the same place, but the opponent is different. The Chinese player played a balanced match against Dayana Yastremska, winning in two sets to advance to her first Grand Slam.
It's a surprising result because she probably didn't quite expect things to work this way, but they did. When it came to Sabalenka, she overcame Coco Gauff in a pretty impressive fashion to make it to the final.
Head-to-head:
Sabalenka and Zheng played once before, and it was last year at the US Open, with the Belarusian winning in two sets. It was practical proof of what we know of them as players.
Both like to attack, and both are predominantly baseline players; however, Sabalenka has been doing this on a higher level and for longer.
The serve is an interesting weapon for both but seems more stable for the Belarusian. When you summarise all of this, you kind of understand why Sabalenka won 6-1 6-4 when they played last year.
| Aryna Sabalenka | Qinwen Zheng | |
| 1 | H2H | 0 |
| 2 | Rank | 15 |
| 25 | Age | 21 |
| 8-1 | 2024 W/L | 10-1 |
| 364-175 | Career W/L | 177-77 |
Prediction:
Sabalenka is the favorite because of the experience. She's done it before, especially here in Melbourne, and seems to do everything that Zheng does even better than she does.
If she brings that level and consistency to the final, then she should have the upper hand. There are ways for Zheng to win the match, but she'll need to play her best tennis ever, which is not the case for Sabalenka.
Prediction: Aryna Sabalenka to win in two sets.
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