On a gentle Saturday night in Melbourne, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus claimed her second consecutive Australian Open girls’s singles title, profitable 6-3, 6-2 towards Zheng Qinwen of China. 

Along with her consequence, 25-year-old Sabalenka turned the primary girl since Victoria Azarenka in 2013 to defend the title in Australia. (A victory for 21-year-old Zheng, in the meantime—who reached her first main last on this match—would have made her the primary Chinese language girl since Li Na in 2014 to seize the trophy.)

Whereas Zheng, the twelfth seed, put up a valiant (and admirably level-headed) effort on the Rod Laver Area, the fiercely aggressive, second-seeded Sabalenka—who hadn’t dropped a set within the final two weeks—delivered on her signature crushing energy. After a barely nerve-racking championship level, she celebrated her win by merely throwing her arms within the air.

On the trophy ceremony that adopted the match, Zheng, who has now entered the WTA’s high 10 for the primary time, graciously congratulated Sabalenka earlier than thanking her personal group (and the voluble crowd in Melbourne) for his or her assist.  “I actually loved [playing] on this Australian Open. That was a tremendous reminiscence for me,” she stated. “I’m certain there’s going to be extra and higher sooner or later.”