Aryna
Sabalenka celebrated her victory at the 2024
Australian Open and shared a
TikTok video with her team dancing in a lively moment at the hotel in
Melbourne. The Belarusian successfully defended her 2023 title and secured her
second Grand Slam trophy, this time defeating China's Qinwen Zheng.
With a
memorable performance throughout the tournament, Sabalenka proved to be far
superior to each of her opponents. The World No. 2 celebrated the new trophy
with her team and left an amusing record on social media: "Agahahaha im
sorry… we just having fun. I told you we gonna drink a bit," she wrote
with laughing emojis.
Sabalenka's
path to the title:
The
Belarusian seemed to encounter no difficulties throughout the tournament, not
dropping a single set. In six out of her seven matches, she conceded 5 games or
fewer, and only Coco Gauff in the semifinals managed to push Sabalenka, albeit
without much success as she was taken to a tie-break.
The
first-round encounter for the World No. 2 was an easy triumph against Eva
Seidel (6-0, 6-1), followed by overcoming the teenage prodigy Brenda
Fruhvirtova (6-3, 6-2). Her first challenge against a seeded player came in the
third round, where she humiliated the 28th seed Lesia Tsurenko with a double
bagel (6-0, 6-0).
As the
second week unfolded, Sabalenka faced opponents of higher stature. First up was
a resurgent Amanda Anisimova, who couldn't do much against the Belarusian
before falling 6-3, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, the 9th seed and former French
Open champion Barbora Krejcikova appeared, but she also posed no problem (6-2,
6-3).
In a
rematch of the 2023 US Open final, Sabalenka avenged her loss to Coco Gauff
and, being superior, reached the final with a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory. The ultimate
showdown was always under control for the former world No. 1, leaving Chinese
player Zheng Qinwen on the brink of the title.