Australian Open: Aryna Sabalenka defends her women's title, defeating Zeng Qinwen in dominant fashion

CNN
—

Aryna Sabalenka Defend it successfully Australian Open Championship She won the women's title on Saturday, beating China's Cheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-2 in the final in Melbourne to complete a dominant tournament in which she did not drop a set.

The Belarusian unleashed her supply of powerful groundstrokes from the start, completely overwhelming the No. 12 seed and pinning her behind the baseline for the majority of the 76-minute match. match.

The strong showing was a continuation of Sabalenka's impressive tournament in which the world number two swept every opponent on her way to the final in comfortable fashion.

She won her second Grand Slam title in a similar manner, becoming the first woman to win two consecutive Australian Open titles since her compatriot Victoria Azarenka, who achieved this feat more often in the 2012-2013 season.

“It's been an amazing two weeks and I couldn't imagine myself lifting this trophy again,” the 25-year-old said on the field afterwards. “It feels incredible right now and I'm speechless and, as always, my speech will be weird. It's not my superpower but I will do my best.”

Although she failed to reach the final hurdle, it was an impressive tournament for Cheng too as she reached a Grand Slam final for the first time in her budding career and secured her rise to world number seven, her first top-10 appearance. Global rankings.

Sabalenka enjoyed the best possible start to Saturday's final, holding her own in the first game and breaking Zeng's serve in the second as the Chinese star initially struggled to find her footing in the match.

The 21-year-old had three break points immediately, sparking an early change in the story, but Sabalenka defended all of them, winning the first set from that point on, engineering three set points on Cheng's serve.

Although Cheng withstood the pressure, defending all three and forcing another game, she was unable to hold back her advantage for much longer and Sabalenka won the first set in just 33 minutes.

Cheng had the opportunity to return serve in the second set, but three double faults in the first game thwarted any attempt to build momentum and gave Sabalenka an early break.

That break, combined with Sabalenka's strong serve – she dropped just six points on her first serve throughout the match – strengthened the Belarusian's grip on the final, and until she served in the tournament, she never looked troubled again.

Zeng's serve was broken again due to two more double faults in the same match, allowing Sabalenka to break twice, and although she battled to the end, saving four tournament points, the defending Australian Open champion clinched the tournament on her fifth attempt.

With this dominant display, she became the first woman since Serena Williams in 2007 to win an Australian Open final without dropping a service game.

This story has been updated with additional information.