Saturday, January 27, 2024

Sabalenka wins her second Australian Open title

If pressure really is a privilege, it may take Zheng Qinwen a while to realize it. In the Australian Open final, the big-serving, athletic Zheng, who knows her away around a tennis court, couldn't find her way around the scary version of defending champion Aryna Sabalenka that has dominated for two straight years in Melbourne. 

If you look at the match stats, it's obvious that--for the most part--Zheng held her own: She had a very high (74) first serve win percentage, she hit six aces, she hit more winners than her opponent, and she made only a couple more unforced errors than Sabalenka. But those stats don't tell the whole story. Zheng also double-faulted six times because of the relentless pressure that was put on her serve. And throughout the entire match, Zheng held only one break point, toward the very end, which she failed to convert.

Sabalenka's hard, fast hitting was more than Zheng could handle. The defending champion never let up on her opponent, and--after an hour and 16 minutes, she held the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup again. Sabalenka failed to drop a set, and delivered three bagels along the way. She is the first woman to win in Melbourne two years in a row since her countrywoman, Victoria Azarenka, did it in 2012 and 2013.

The good news for Zheng is that next week, she will enter the top 10.

Sabalenka wasn't yesterday's only champion. Top seed Renata Jamrichova of Slovakia defeated 6th seed Emerson Jones of Australia 6-4, 6-1 to win the junior girls title.

And, of course, there was Diede the Great. Top seed and defending champion Diede de Groot yet again defeated 2nd seed Yui Kamiji (7-5, 6-4) to win her sixth Australian Open singles title, and her fourth consecutive one. She and partner Jiske Griffieon had already won the doubles title. de Groot has now won 21 majors in singles, and 18 in doubles (not to mention all the Masters titles, World Team Cup titles and Paralympic medals--it boggles the mind).



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