Aryna Sabalenka defeated China’s Zheng Qinwen to repeat the title at the Australian Open

Aryna Sabalenka2nd in the world, he proclaimed himself champion of the Australian Open this Saturday for the second time in a row by beating the Chinese tennis player Zheng Qinwen (15th) for 6-3 and 6-2 in 1 hour and 16 minutes. The 25-year-old Belarusian won her second Grand Slam title without conceding a set in two weeks in Australia. Zheng, despite the defeat, will enter the The top 10 of the WTA rankings since Monday, in seventh position.

Sabalenka became like that the first player for more than ten years who manages to retain the Melbourne trophy, behind his compatriot Victoria Azarenka he was proclaimed champion in 2012 and 2013.

Repeating the script that he imposed in all his matches on the pitches of Melbourne parkthe final was very much in their favor from the start.

Zheng lost his first serve and the same thing happened at the beginning of the second set. Author of numerous double faults and suffering from the power of Sabalenka’s shots, the Chinese was unable to keep up with her rival.

Since her first major title at the Australian Open a year ago, the Belarusian has taken a step forward in world tennis, competing three of the last five finalstwo in Melbourne and one in New York, they lost to Coco Gauff.

The American is the only one to have lasted more than an hour and a half against the world number 2 during this edition of the Australian tournament.

21 years, Zheng Qinwen She was on the verge of becoming the second tennis player from her country to win a Grand Slam title, after her compatriot Li Na he won Roland Garros in 2011 and the Australian Open in 2014.

Her best Grand Slam result so far was the quarterfinals of the 2023 US Open, where she was eliminated by Sabalenka.