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MELBOURNE — Second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka successfully defended her Australian Open women’s singles title, overpowering China's Zheng Qinwen in the final on Saturday to claim her second title in Melbourne Park.
The 25-year-old Sabalenka defeated the Chinese first-time finalists Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-2 in a 76-minute encounter to get her name etched onto the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup for the second time in her career.
Sabalenka raised her fists and blew a kiss to the sky after sealing victory in cool conditions at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night.
With this victory, Sabalenka became the first player to defend their first major title since Victoria Azarenka defeated Li Na in the 2013 Australian Open final. The 25-year-old is also the first player to successfully defend an Australian Open crown since Azarenka that year.
Like Azarenka, Sabalenka also has career-best Slam performances of a semifinal at Roland Garros, a semifinal at Wimbledon and a final at the US Open. Both players have also reached World No.1.
The world No.2 won 84 per cent of first serve points and saved each of the four break points she faced en route to claiming her second singles Grand Slam title with the most dominant performance in an Australian Open women’s singles final since Azarenka dropped just three games against Maria Sharapova in 2012.
The Belarussian appearing as a neutral player, did not drop a set all fortnight, and has won 28 of her past 29 sets at Melbourne Park including her 2023 title run. The only player to win a set from her in this spell was Elena Rybakina in last year's final. In the final, she repeated her 6-1, 6-4 win over Zheng in last year's US Open quarterfinals, the pair's only previous meeting.
The result marks the 14th tour-level title of Sabalenka's career, ninth on outdoor hard courts and first since last May when she defended her Madrid trophy. She improves to 2-1 in major finals and becomes the 10th active multiple Grand Slam champion alongside Iga Swiatek, Naomi Osaka, Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Azarenka, Angelique Kerber, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Venus Williams.
Zheng, the second Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam final and first since Li's title run here in 2014, will make her Top 10 debut on Monday at No.7. Sabalenka will remain at No.2.
“Thank you, Evonne, for being such an inspiration for all of us and receiving this beautiful trophy from you is a pleasure for me,” said Sabalenka, who was presented with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup by Evonne Goolagong Cawley, on the 50th anniversary of the Australian legend’s first Australian Open triumph.
With this win, Sabalenka earned bragging rights as the fifth player since the turn of the century to win an Australian Open women’s singles final without dropping a set, after Ash Barty in 2022, Serena Williams in 2017, Sharapova in 2008 and Lindsay Davenport in 2000. It’s the 14th title of her career, and the 12th on a hard court.
The 25-year-old was held to love in the opening game and immediately broke Zheng, who is the first Chinese player to compete in a major singles final since her countrywoman Li Na won the Australian Open 2014 title.
Contesting just the ninth major main draw of her career, Zheng showed no nerves. She responded quickly by creating a trio of breakpoints, though her relentlessly powerful foe saved all three by executing the aggressive, attacking game that elevated her to world No.1 last September.
From there, Sabalenka – dictating points with her heavy groundstrokes – dropped a sole point on serve, and quickly raced to a 5-2 lead.
Australian Open: Bopanna wins men's doubles title with Ebden, becomes oldest major winner
MELBOURNE — India's Rohan Bopanna made history on Saturday, becoming the oldest man in the Open Era to win a major men’s doubles title on Saturday, teaming up with Australian Matthew Ebden to win the Australian Open.
The 43-year-old Bopanna and Ebden overcame Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-6(0), 7-5 to clinch the crown at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
Bopanna, who was awarded the Padma Shri by the Indian government for becoming the oldest first-time World No.1 in men's doubles recently, completed his mission to win his first Grand Slam men's doubles title.
Bopanna and Ebden were dominant on serve throughout the one-hour, 40-minute clash, winning 80 per cent (40/50) of points behind their first delivery and not facing a break point to cap a dream week.
Bopanna, who had won his first Grand Slam title, the mixed doubles title alongside Gabriela Dabrowski at the French Open in 2017, and Ebden produced their best tennis at the crucial stages. They found great depth on return in the first-set tie-break to storm ahead before they gained the crucial break of the second set in the 11th game. The second seeds Bopanna and Ebden won all seven tie-breaks they played at the hard-court major.
The Indian-Australian team bumped chests following match point, a celebration associated with Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi and also American greats Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan before they sunk to the ground. Bopanna and Ebden then returned to their feet to soak in the roars from the crowd.
It is the first time Bopanna has won a major men's doubles title, having lost in finals at the US Open in 2010 and 2023. The 43-year-old is the third Indian man in the Open Era to win a major men’s doubles title, joining Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. He will also become the oldest No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings on Monday.
Ebden, 36, has now won two major men’s doubles titles, having won Wimbledon in 2022 with Max Purcell. He is the 28th Australian man to win the Australian Open men’s doubles crown.
Bopanna is overall the fourth Indian to win a Grand Slam title after Paes, Bhupathi and Mirza and is now on the list of the star tennis players who have also been awarded the prestigious Padma Shri Award on Thursday.
Born on March 4, 1980, in Bangalore, Karnataka, to M. G. Bopanna, a coffee planter in Kodagu district, and Malika Bopanna, a housewife, Bopanna started playing tennis at the age of 11 because his father wanted him to pursue the sport.
Though he also enjoyed sports like hockey and football, by the age of 19, tennis became young Rohan's calling as won his first ITF Junior singles title in 1997 at the age of 17. After gaining experience in both singles and doubles at the junior and senior ITF levels, Bopanna turned professional in 2003.