Aryna Sabalenka successfully defended her Australian Open crown after beating Qinwen Zheng in the final.
The Belarusian has been by far the best player over the last two weeks. She entered the season's first Grand Slam as one of the favorites, and proved her status with every match she played.
No one managed to win a set against Sabalenka in Melbourne this year, not even Coco Gauff, who beat her in the US Open final a few months ago. So after the successful semifinal match, the world no. 2 took on Zheng, who is set to break into the Top 10 after the tournament.
But even the Chinese player couldn't match Sabalenka's power and aggression. The Belarusian started the match with a break of her opponent's serve, and despite facing three break points immediately after, she saved all of them thanks to her strong serve and baseline play.
Zheng did all she could, but she never managed to win more than two points on her opponent's serve in the opening set since, and the result was a straightforward win for the second seed, 6-3.
The second set opened well for Sabalenka again, as she once again broke her opponent's serve to lead 2-0, but Zheng managed to hold her serve then to keep herself in play, even after a minor distraction from crowd, which stopped the play for a moment.
However, the Chinese player's usually impactful serve didn't help her in this match, as she made two double faults in her next service games, practically giving away her serve and giving her opponent a two-break advantage.
As experienced as Sabalenka is, she would not give this big lead away, as she blasted her way past Zheng to win the match 6-3, 6-2, and defend her Australian Open title from last year, winning her second Australian Open second Grand Slam overall.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Qinwen Zheng Match Stats:
| Aryna Sabalenka | 6-3, 6-2 | Qinwen Zheng |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Aces | 6 |
| 0 | Double Faults | 6 |
| 66% | First Serve % | 53% |
| 84% (31/37) | Points Won After First Serve % | 74% (20/27) |
| 42% (8/19) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 38% (9/24) |
| 50% (3/6) | Break Point Conversion | 0% (0/3) |
| 13 | Winners | 19 |
| 14 | Unforced Errors | 15 |
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