Sabalenka Successfully Defends Title at Australian Open, Dominating Final Match

Sabalenka can defend her title at the Australian Open.Image: keystone

The winner of the Australian Open is the same as last year: Aryna Sabalenka. The world number 2 from Belarus wins the final against the Chinese Zheng Qinwen 6:3, 6:2 and celebrates her second Grand Slam title.

The 25-year-old Sabalenka won even more dominantly than last year and didn’t drop a set in the entire tournament. She only needed 1:16 hours to win against number 12 seed Zheng, who will break into the top ten for the first time on Monday. Sabalenka only had a hard time in the last service game; she only used her fifth match point.

If the Belarusian can use her power tennis, she is practically unbeatable – as she was in Australia for the second year in a row. Sabalenka, who is usually very aggressive on the pitch, only faltered during the winner’s interview. “That’s not my superpower,” she said apologetically. “My speeches usually come out funny.”

Lost final as motivationSabalenka thanked the Australian fans, among whom she is very popular. “It’s a dream,” she said of her second title. The defeat in the final of the US Open against Coco Gauff was a motivation to work even harder. The American was the only opponent who challenged Sabalenka at 6:7, 4:6 in Melbourne.

Unsurprisingly, Zheng Qinwen couldn’t do this. The Chinese woman, four years her junior, got to the final relatively cheaply and didn’t have to defeat any players from the top 50 on the way there. But then she felt the same as all of Sabalenka’s other opponents in Melbourne. She found no way to counter the Belarusian pressure from the baseline and immediately fell behind 0-3. She also lost her first serve game in the second set. “I was able to put pressure on them with their service,” Sabalenka stated. “That was the key.”

Successor for Asarenka, not LiExactly ten years after her idol Li Na became the first Chinese woman to win the Australian Open, Zheng was unable to follow in her big footsteps. Sabalenka, on the other hand, is the first successful defending champion since Victoria Asarenka (2013), who also comes from Belarus. (kat/sda9

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2024-01-27 11:48:00
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