On the day that China celebrated their biggest day in tennis history, with the legendary Li Na having won her second Grand Slam trophy at the 2014 Australian Open, an inspired Zheng Qinwen ended Dayana Yastremska’s fairytale journey in Melbourne, which had started three weeks back in the qualifiers, to book a date with defending Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in her maiden Grand Slam final. Zheng beat the Ukrainian 6-4, 6-4 on the Rod Laver Arena, less than two hours after Sabalenka took down Coco Gauff in the semifinal in straight sets, to become the second Chinese player in history to reach a major final.
In the battle of the two first-time Grand Slam semifinalists, which ended in 1 hour and 42 minutes, Zheng secured both the sets in rather contrasting fashions. No.93-ranked Yastremska, who was just the fifth qualifier to reach a major semifinal in the Open Era after winning eight on the trot, raced to an early 2-0 lead after fending off the second serve from Zheng and dishing out some ravishing backhand winners. However, she showed first signs of fragility from the third game onwards. The 23-year-old did dig herself out from 0-40 down and before standing a point away from a 3-0 lead, but back-to-back double faults cost her the game and, subsequently, the set.
Zheng bounced back in top-class form thereafter, finding more first serves in, which improved from 53 per cent in the first set to 59 in the second set, and she won 76 per cent of those points behind it. The other factor that played a crucial role in Zheng’s composed win against Yastremska was her use of heavy topspin forehand as he dominated the mid-length rallies.
The former world No. 21 received a medical time-out during the opening set after experiencing discomfort in her abs. Yastremska hoped for a turnaround in the second set where she conceded an early break, but failed to keep up with the momentum Zheng had built. The Chinese won 12 of the 13 points to take a 5-3 lead before comfortably closing out the match.
Zheng will take on Sabalenka in her first ever Grand Slam final appearance. The Belarusian leads 1-0 in head-to-head rivalry against the No. 12 seed having won their maiden encounter in the quarterfinals of the US Open in September las year. Sabalenka did nit face a single break point against Zheng.
