After becoming just the second Chinese grand slam finalist after two-time champion Li Na, the 21-year-old had an incredible performance to make the final at all.

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The world No. 15 coming into the event, Zheng will rise to No. 7 after her maiden major final, having previously only made the second round of the tournament.

The chaos among the seeds early in the tournament opened up the draw for the Chinese star, who didn’t have to play another seeded player until Sabalenka in the final.

And with an estimated 20 million people in China watching, Zheng had no answers for the onslaught, at times even proving to be her own worst enemies.

Coming up against Sabalenka, who was chasing back-to-back titles, the Belarusian was ruthless, blowing Zheng off the court in just 76 minutes.

Zheng was immediately broken and after missing three chances to break back in the following game, she was always chasing her tail as Sabalenka ran away with it.

But it was her first service game in the second set when the wheels well and truly fell off.

Zheng had plenty of double faults throughout the tournament but three in the one service game all but handed the trophy to Sabalenka.

Tennis reporter Jose Morgado tweeted: “Ouch, Zheng breaks herself to start the 2nd set.”

She ultimately served five double faults in the second set, the last two of which were at 3-1.

Her last double fault handed Sabalenka a break point, which she converted to go up 4-1.

From there, the result was never in doubt and even though Zheng saved four championship points from Sabalenka, there was no coming back against the ruthless Belarusian.

“It is my first final and I feel a bit of pity but that is how it is,” Zheng said.

“It is an experience for me. At the same time, I want to say thanks to all the fans who come to watch me.

“I feel — it is very complicated because I feel that I could have done better but I didn’t in this match.

“I really enjoyed to play in this Australia Open. It was an amazing memory for me and I’m sure there will be more and better in the future.”

Sabalenka also had words of encouragement for Zheng.

“I know this feeling — it is tough to lose in a final but you are such an incredible player, such a young girl. You are going to be in many more finals and you are going to get it,” she said.

The pressure wasn’t just placed on Zheng from Sabalenka on the court however as pundits suggested she had the weight of her 1.4 billion-strong nation on her back.

“Getting to know a new face on the tour, she was obviously the Newcomer of the Year (in 2022) but I think for the general public and Australia, particularly for the Asia-Pacific region to get someone like her through the tournament has been pretty massive for the tournament,” Casey Dellacqua said on Nine’s The Morning Serve before the match.

“And I know there’s going to be billions and billions of eyes on that final tonight.”

On the pre-match coverage on Nine, Aussie former world No. 8 Alicia Molik said: “This is the 10-year anniversary of Li Na winning, so my concern there is China expects another winner.”

Up to 20 million fans in China were expected to watch the final.

There was definitely interest as Zheng’s semi-final against Dayana Yastremska reportedly had roughly the same number of viewers as Li Na’s 2014 AO triumph.

Did she feel the pressure of all that expectation despite being a rank outsider to most of the world?

Only she will ever truly know.