• Aryna Sabalenka successfully defended her title.
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• This was her second major title.
• She defeated Qinwen Zheng in straight sets.

Aryna Sabalenka, the Belarusian second seed, won her second consecutive Australian Open title on Saturday by defeating China’s Qinwen Zheng in straight sets 6-3 6-2.

Sabalenka is the first woman to retain the Melbourne Park title since her compatriot, Victoria Azarenka, in 2013.

Zheng had reached her first Grand Slam final without meeting a seed after a host of players crashed out early on her side of the draw, and the gulf in class was quickly exposed.

Sabalenka became the fifth woman to win the Australian Open without dropping a set after Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, and Ash Barty. She is also the second player in the Open Era to win her first two Women’s Singles Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open after Azarenka.

BACK 🏆 TO 🏆 BACK@SabalenkaA is our #AO2024 champion! pic.twitter.com/OcVy2V9ley

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2024

Sabalenka is the third player in the last 10 years to win the same Women’s Singles Major event for consecutive seasons after Serena Williams in Wimbledon (2015–2016) and Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros (2022–2023).

According to Opta, Sabalenka also became the second player in the last 20 years to win the Women’s Singles Australian Open final without a single game dropped on serve after Serena Williams in 2007 against Maria Sharapova.

Zheng, the second Chinese player to qualify for a Grand Slam final and first since Li’s title run here in 2014, will make her Top 10 debut in rankings on Monday at No.7, while Sabalenka will remain at No.2.

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