Sabalenka beats China’s Zheng to retain Australian Open title

Aryna Sabalenka continued to be an irrepressible force at the Australian Open as she powered to a 6-3 6-2 victory over Chinese 12th seed Zheng Qinwen on Saturday to successfully defend her title and add a second Grand Slam trophy to her cabinet.

The Belarusian second seed has barely put a foot wrong at what has turned into her happiest hunting ground as she became the first woman to retain the Melbourne Park crown since compatriot Victoria Azarenka in 2013.

Sabalenka came into the match without dropping a set at the year’s first major and stayed perfect to join Ash Barty, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport in the elite club of players to have managed the feat since 2000.

She unleashed monster groundstrokes to grab the final by the scruff of the neck with an early break and thousands of Chinese supporters and millions back home watched Zheng fall behind 3-0.

Sabalenka did not have her nation’s flags in the stands due to a ban over her country’s role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but the charismatic 25-year-old has a big Melbourne fan base and she rode the Rod Laver Arena support to take the first set.

Zheng, who had saved four set points, showed she was slowly growing in confidence in her second meeting with Sabalenka by firing up her own big forehand amid the rallying cry of “Jia You” from her compatriots in the crowd.

A clean crosscourt winner earned Sabalenka a break point in the opening game of the second set and Zheng’s double fault gifted it to her, the 21-year-old’s hopes of emulating her idol Li Na’s 2014 triumph beginning to evaporate.

Sabalenka shrugged of shaky service game to close out the most one-sided final since Azarenka beat Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-0 in 2012 by smashing a forehand winner.