Aryna Sabalenka Triumphs Over Qinwen Zheng to Clinch 2024 Australian Open Trophy

History repeats itself as Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka clinched her second consecutive Australian Open title after putting away teenager Qinwen Zheng.

Sabalenka put away Zheng in two straight sets of 6-3, 6-2 with relative ease in an encounter that lasted 1 hour and 16 minutes.

Sabalenka now becomes the second woman after Victoria Azarenka in 2013 to mount a successful women’s title defence at Melbourne Park.

“It’s been an amazing couple of weeks. I couldn’t imagine myself lifting this trophy one more time and it’s an unbelievable feeling right now. I’m really speechless,” Sabalenka exclaimed in joy at a post-match interview.

Sabalenka also shared some words of appreciation and encouragement for her rival Zheng.

“I know this feeling — it is tough to lose in a final but you are such an incredible player, such a young girl. You are going to be in many more finals and you are going to get it,” she said.

Sabalenka started off the first set in predictably dominant fashion, clinching the first three games with ease to build a 3-0 lead. The 17-year-old Zheng fired back to try and swing the momentum in her favour. But, the experienced Belarusian maintained her cool and just glided her way to an easy 6-3 win to seal the first set in a mere 33 minutes.

More of Sabalenka’s dominance was at display in the second set as well, with the defending champion brushing away the teenager with ease to win the first two games. Zheng managed to pull one back, but there was no holding back Sabalenka who went on yet another rampage, winning the next three games in a row, wreaking havoc over Zheng.

One game away from victory, Sabalenka thought she had Zheng in her sights. But, the Chinese teenager displayed great grit to push Sabalenka one game further away from victory and clinched it to push the set 5-2.

In retaliation, a fiery Sabalenka blitzed her way to 40-0 in the eight game of the second set. But, a determined Zheng once again pulled it back to tie the game, forcing Sabalenka to three tie-breaks before the Belarusian ultimately got the better of Zheng and clinched the title.