MATCH PREVIEW and PREDICTION | 2024 Australian Open FINAL: Back-to-back crowns or coronation of Queenwen as Aryna SABALENKA faces Qinwen ZHENG

It all comes down to this. After 14 days of action at the Australian Open, the Women's Singles champion will be crowned on Saturday (January 27) with Qinwen Zheng set to face off against Aryna Sabalenka. A wannabe Queen vs the current Queen of Melbourne.

Our preview looks ahead to the highly anticipated clash and plots the route of both players through the draw over the course of the two weeks in Melbourne with one in particular being fairly comfortable and the other prevailing through the most wide open section in years.

Heartbreak at the US Open last year and also Roland Garros against Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova would've left many players crestfallen. But not Aryna Sabalenka who knows what it takes to win a Grand Slam and in particular the Australian Open. Previously she has had some wobbles amid being the favourite but not this time.
She has not dropped a set all tournament including in her semi-final against Coco Gauff as she exacted some revenge on the teenage American after she went a set up in their US Open final and was left crying and heartbroken after losing the final in the ultimate American dream story. But it was no fairytale for Sabalenka. She also had to deal with getting thrashed by Elena Rybakina in Brisbane before this tournament even began, but while Rybakina floundered in Adelaide and then in Melbourne, Sabalenka rose.
Wins without dropping barely any games against Ella Seidel, Brenda Fruhvirtova, Lesia Tsurenko and then her previous nemesis head to head wise Amanda Anisimova saw Sabalenka stand out. All of this while Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula and Ons Jabeur in particular all floundered and opened up Qinwen Zheng's section. Her next wins came over Grand Slam champions as she made light work of delays to see off Barbora Krejcikova then took centre stage for a tie with Coco Gauff which she took in straight sets also. A lot of demons exercised this fortnight for Sabalenka and a potential second Grand Slam on its way back to Belarus.

The player to take advantage of the fall of the big names was Qinwen Zheng who will be in the top 10 next week and is looking spookily to emulate her idol and Chinese trailblazer, Li Na. The former World No.1 won the Australian Open ten years ago and Qinwen was watching that back home in China. Ten years later and she stands on the cusp of making even more history.
Backed by support of the woman herself who surprised her and gave her encouragement, it is an interesting road to this point for the player affectionately known as 'Queenwen'. She has not played a single top 50 player en route to the final with the section opening up and the expectation growing bigger and bigger. Wins over Ashlyn Krueger, Katie Boulter, Yafan Wang, Oceane Dodin, Anna Kalinskaya and Dayana Yastremska reads more like a road to a WTA 250 than it does to a Grand Slam. But as the phrase goes, you can only beat what is put in front of you and she has certainly done that.
A player with rising stock for a while, she has also battled through her own problems with Wim Fissette now left with egg on his face after taking her to a US Open Quarter-Final then ditching her for Naomi Osaka leaving her in tears and on the search for a new coach. A reunion with Pere Riba was set and has worked dividends as the Spaniard after recently splitting with Coco Gauff also getting his flowers. But given the lack of opposition up to this point, how can she cope against Sabalenka? They've only had one meeting which was en route to that final for Sabalenka as she blasted her aside 6-1, 6-4 and it is feasible that this could be the case again. But as ever with WTA Tennis, anything can happen.