MELBOURNE, Australia – The first serve Zheng Qinwen sent to Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday's Australian Open women's final was returned over the net with so much venom that it nearly passed the world No. 12 before she could nail her racket on the ground. he.
It was that familiar sign of immediate intent from Sabalenka, something that had served her well this fortnight at Melbourne Park. He also left little doubt as to which player would dictate the conditions in this match.
For 75 minutes, Sabalenka bullied her Chinese counterpart, clawing her way to Australian Open glory for the second time in as many years. Her 6-3, 6-2 victory over Zheng capped one of the most dominant runs to a Slam title in tennis history, with Sabalenka going a perfect 14-14 in sets, losing just 31 games along the way. towards the title.
Sabalenka never allowed Zheng, a first-time major finalist, a moment to relax. The world No. 2 delighted in her serve, the same serve that had proven to be Zheng's best weapon on her way to the final. If Sabalenka didn't hit a nearly unrecoverable ball, it was only a matter of seconds before she had control of the point and had her opponent climbing behind the baseline.
Zheng had no answers for the attack. Instead, the bombardment from the other side of the court seemed to undermine his confidence. The 21-year-old committed six double faults, three of them in her first service game of the second set to give Sabalenka another immediate break.
When it was Sabalenka's turn to serve, the final only seemed more one-sided. He won 84% of his first serve points and, aside from his first service game, didn't miss a single break opportunity until the final game, when those pesky championship point jitters reared their ugly head again.
“I think Sabalenka is one of the toughest opponents I've ever faced,” Zheng said after the match. “She is a very aggressive player. She takes away the rhythm of other players.
“It's very important to maintain your own service game. [against Sabalenka], because it had very good service. But I couldn't do that.”
From the moment Sabalenka began her title defense at the Australian Open, there was a looming sense of inevitability that she was once again destined to be the last woman standing at Melbourne Park.
While it's not unusual for one of the world's best players to dominate her first-round opponent at a Slam, Sabalenka's 6-0, 6-1 demolition in 53 minutes of German qualifier Ella Seidel felt like a performance. of declaration. She was by no means suffering the effects of an Australian Open hangover, rather she was picking up right where she left off 12 months ago.
The trend of blink-and-you-miss-it matches continued into the semi-finals. Sabalenka never conceded more than three games in any set and quickly reached the last four. And although fourth-seeded American Coco Gauff tested her in the semifinals, she rose to the challenge in such a way that she left nearly every tennis expert convinced she would repeat her 2023 triumph two days ago. after.
There weren't many of those pressure moments in Saturday's final, but it speaks to how Sabalenka was able to put the result beyond doubt before the sun began to set over Rod Laver Arena.
The scariest thing for Sabalenka's rivals may well be that the 25-year-old remains an unfinished project. Few, if any, can match her sheer power and aggression, but knowing how to control them and ensure they are used to her advantage, rather than to her detriment, is something she is only beginning to learn. His understanding of when to attack and when to play more conservative tennis, in a way that does not undermine his obvious strengths, was evident in Saturday's final.
In the first set, Sabalenka quickly fell into a 0-40 hole after breaking serve to take an early 2-0 lead. But there were no signs of panic or worry. There was no sign of trying to force something that wasn't there. Instead, he calmly served his way out of trouble, scoring five consecutive points to avoid a break.
It took Sabalenka time to learn that she doesn't always have to take unnecessary risks when trying to paint the lines with each groundstroke. Now, at times, he will opt for a more calculated approach, forcing his opponents to make mistakes, and he is proving even more successful.
Most would agree that his run to the title this fortnight has been even more impressive than the way he achieved the feat 12 months ago, yet he has achieved exactly half as many winners this campaign as in 2023. Instead, The damage was already done. forcing his opponents to make mistakes. It was no different in the final, with Zheng committing 32 forced errors in the two sets, almost one in every three points.
There is no denying that Sabalenka has been the most consistent player on the women's circuit since her breakthrough at Wimbledon in 2021. Since then, no player has won more matches than her on the Slam stage. She has reached the semifinals in seven of the last nine majors, played in three finals and has now won two of them.
Iga Swiatek will still carry the world No. 1 tag, but Sabalenka has closed the gap considerably over the past 15 months. And with the trajectory it appears to be on, it seems only a matter of time before it usurps it.
