- By Jonathan Jurejko
- BBC Sport at Melbourne Park
January 25, 2024, 10:38 GMT
Updated 33 minutes ago
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Aryna Sabalenka demonstrated her strength with a 13th consecutive win at the Australian Open
Venue: Melbourne Park Events: 14th-28th January |
Cover: Commentary from 08:00 GMT for Tennis Breakfast on Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds, with selected live text commentary and match reports on the BBC Sport website and app |
Aryna Sabalenka remains on course to defend her Australian Open title after reaching the Melbourne final by avenging her loss to Coco Gauff at last year's US Open exhibition game.
The second-seeded Belarusian Sabalenka won 7:6 (7:2), 6:4 against the fourth-seeded American Gauff in an exciting semi-final.
Both were nervous in an error-strewn first set that saw six breaks before Sabalenka struck decisively late in the second set.
Sabalenka will face 12th seeded Chinese Zheng Qinwen in the final on Saturday.
Zheng, 21, achieved her first Grand Slam showcase by ending Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska's incredible run with a 6-4, 6-4 win in the second semifinal on Thursday.
Zheng is aiming to become the second Chinese woman to win the Australian Open singles title – on the 10th anniversary of Li Na's famous victory.
“It feels incredible,” Zheng said. “I’m really happy to put in such a great performance and be in the final.”
Sabalenka makes it clear why she is favorite for the title
The anticipation for the fight between Sabalenka and Gauff at the first Grand Slam of the season was great.
Both players were impressive as they battled through the draw and set up a repeat of their thrilling US Open final, which saw the 19-year-old Gauff defeat in September to win her first major title.
Due to the persistent rain in Melbourne, it took place – like the second semi-final – under the roof of the Rod Laver Arena.
Sabalenka has been particularly dominant and still hasn't lost a set in the last two weeks after showing she could bounce back from difficult periods against Gauff.
The 25-year-old Belarusian unleashed her explosive game against Gauff from the start, cracking 33 winners and attacking her opponent's second serve in a high-octane display of strength.
Although Sabalenka's style still leads to mistakes, she seems more comfortable at Melbourne Park this fortnight, having won her first major title here.
Now, after maintaining her composure to claim victory, she is the first woman since Serena Williams in 2017 to reach two consecutive finals.
“I think I was able to focus on myself and was prepared for her to move really well and return every ball,” said Sabalenka, who has reached at least the semifinals in the last six majors.
“I had to be ready to take an extra shot and I was ready for tonight.”
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Coco Gauff was aiming for consecutive Grand Slam titles
Gauff fulfilled what had long seemed her destiny by winning in New York, as she came from a set down to beat Sabalenka.
This time she was unable to repeat the feat as Sabalenka ended her unbeaten start to the 2024 season.
Gauff arrived in Melbourne after winning a WTA title in Auckland and didn't drop a set in her first four matches.
But after beating Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk in what she considered a “bad” quarter-final, she appeared extremely nervous in the early stages of the semi-final.
Gauff's tension was evident in six double faults in the first set, although she also showed her ability to mentally reinvent herself when she twice recovered from collapses.
After soaking up so much pressure, Gauff got to 6-5 but missed the chance to serve the set at 30-0 and was penalized when Sabalenka dominated the tiebreak.
Gauff had to fend off further break points in the first and sixth games of the second set, with the pressure becoming clear when Sabalenka made mistakes from the baseline to break 5-4.
This time Sabalenka didn't miss the opportunity and earned the “revenge” she wanted to exact on Gauff for her defeat in Flushing Meadows.
“It was a tough game for me,” said Gauff, who was close to tears as she left Rod Laver Arena.
“Overall it was a positive tournament. I had chances in both sets, but she played better. I think it just came down to a few points, and that’s tennis.”
Zheng stops Yastremska from imitating Raducanu
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Zheng has hit more aces and won more first serve points than any other player in women's singles
In contrast to Sabalenka and Gauff, neither Zheng nor Yastremska had ever played a Grand Slam semi-final match – and both wanted to build on the remarkable great triumphs of the recent past.
Zheng – an aggressive baseliner with a powerful serve – wanted to follow in the footsteps of Chinese trailblazer Li.
Yastremska, meanwhile, became the first qualifier to reach the quarterfinals of a major since Britain's Emma Raducanu at the 2021 US Open.
It was Zheng who continued her journey with the joy of vocal Chinese support in a city that has a large population with ties to the Asian country.
After losing her first service game, Zheng immediately broke Yastremska and accepted the 23-year-old Ukrainian's serve again to seal the first set.
Yastremska, who said it was her “mission” to make sure people remember her country's fight against Russia's ongoing invasion, required treatment for an apparent abdominal injury.
But as promised before the game, the world number 93 continued to show the same fight she had shown to get through qualifying and reach the last four.
Yastremska lost serve to make it 2-1 and prevented Zheng from consolidating the break by taking her fourth break point chance in the next game.
However, a double fault set the stage for a poor seventh game in which Zheng struck again and the Chinese player used her dominant serve to secure the win.