Aryna Sabalenka beat Qinwen Zheng's in the women's singles final to successfully defend her Australian Open crown. The Belarusian tennis player was clinical in the summit clash and showed no signs of nerves as she beat her opponent in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 in a contest that lasted an hour. To put Sabalenka's effort into perspective, the world number 2 became only the second player in the world to win successive Australian Open title. The only other woman to achieve the feat was Victoria Azarenka who won in 2012 and 2013.
In what was an absolutely dominating performance from the tennis star, Sabalenka did not lose a single set throughout the course of the tournament. The 25-year-old received the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup which is given to the winner of the Australian Open Women's singles title winner every year but became only the fifth player to be the winner of that prized trophy without losing the set. The only other tennis stars to have done that before Sabalenka are Ash Barty, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport.
Aryna Sabalenka Wins 28 Of Last 29 Sets Played At Australian Open
Not dropping a set in the Australian Open 2024 final means now Aryna, who was featuring in her third Grand Slam final, has won 28 of her last 29 sets at the Melbourne Park. She was brilliant on the court and it took her only 32 minutes to lead by a set. She broke her Chinese opponent early in the first set to take a 2-0 lead and never let her grip on the match loosen. In the second set too, Sabalenka broke first an early break to go with a late one and even though she was denied four straight championship points by Zheng, she eventually sealed the match in her fifth attempt to script history.