Tennis: Sabalenka successfully defended Australian Open title

The Belarusian, seeded number two, defeated the Chinese Zheng Qinwen, who was in a Grand Slam final for the first time, 6:3.6:2 in 76 minutes. For the 25-year-old Sabalenka, it was her second major title, which is worth the equivalent of 1.93 million euros. She didn’t say a sentence on the way there.

Sabalenka dominated Zheng in her third major final not only acoustically, but also in terms of the game. She broke the Chinese woman’s serve for the first time to make it 2-0 and immediately fended off three rebreak points. At 5:2, 0:40, Sabalenka initially missed three set points, but then used the fifth to make it 6:3 after 33 minutes.

Nervous opponent

Zheng, who was only 21 years old, was nervous in her first major final when she committed three double faults in the first game of the second set. That basically meant the decision, because Sabalenka couldn’t let this advantage be taken away from her. Zheng then gave serve again to make it 1:4. As in the only duel between the two so far in the US Open quarterfinals last year (6:1,6:4), Zheng ultimately had no chance.

Sabalenka still remains the women’s number two behind the Pole Iga Swiatek, who failed in round three. Zheng, who had hoped to become the second Chinese winner ten years after Li Na, moved up to seventh place and into the top ten for the first time. She can also console herself with 1.05 million euros.