On January 27, in the women's singles final of the Australian Open, Chinese player Zheng Qinwen lost two sets in a row 3-6, 2-6, and lost to Sabalenka and missed the championship. Sabalenka defended her title with 14 straight wins in Melbourne and became the first woman to win back-to-back cups at the Australian Open since Azarenka (2012-13).
Sabalenka was indeed superior, and she was in excellent form, making the most of her advantage from the first set to take the initiative. Zheng Qinwen ran into similar trouble against Sabalenka last year, and it was too difficult to stop Sabalenka.
Sabalenka firmly held the initiative and won 6-3 in the first set. In the second set, Zheng Qinwen had a slump of three consecutive double faults, and was finally won by Sabalenka 6-2. Sabalenka, who was in her prime, did not drop a set in this Australian Open tournament and showed strong dominance.
As a superstar, Zheng Qinwen has made great gains in this Australian Open, she won the runner-up, reached the final for the first time in her career, rose to the seventh place in the world ranking, and also won a prize of 1,725,000 Australian dollars, equivalent to about 8.15 million yuan.
At the award ceremony, when the staff put the championship trophy on the stage, Zheng Qinwen stood on the side, his face full of regret and disappointment. Zheng Qinwen then took the stage to receive the runner-up trophy and spoke, first congratulating Sabalenka: "Congratulations Alina Sabalenka, you played a great match, this is my first Grand Slam final, I feel a little bit sad, but that's it, I also gained experience. ”
Zheng Qinwen said as he spoke, his voice choked up for a while: "I want to thank the fans for coming to watch the game, I have mixed feelings at the moment, I can play better, but I didn't do it." However, Zheng Qinwen then calmed down and said: "I want to thank the fans for coming to watch the game, I feel very complicated, I could have played better, but I didn't do it. I would also like to thank the team for helping me get here. I enjoyed playing at the Australian Open, lots of fantastic memories and I'm sure there will be more in the future. Finally, thank you to the sponsors, thank you all, thank you, thank you!"
When it was Sabalenka's turn to receive the championship trophy, she warmly encouraged Zheng Qinwen, saying that she understood the feeling of losing in a Grand Slam, but Zheng Qinwen is still very young and will reach the final many times in the future and win the championship in the future.
As Sabalenka said, Zheng Qinwen's Australian Open final is just the beginning of her rise, and she still has a lot of room for improvement, and she will reach more Grand Slam finals in the future to challenge for the title.