Aryna Sabalenka is creating a dynasty at the Australian Open.
On Saturday, Sabalenka crushed her Chinese opponent Qinwen Zheng in just 76 minutes, thus becoming the first woman to defend this title since her fellow Belarusian Victoria Azarenka 11 years ago.
The 6-3, 6-2 victory continued Sabalenka’s frictionless run through this event, which has seen her spend only a touch over eight hours on the court. For context, men’s finalist Daniil Medvedev has already crossed the 20-hour mark with another match still to go.
The flawlessness of Sabalenka’s performance was summed up by her clean serving: 67 per cent of first serves landed and not a single double-fault, which is a remarkable achievement for someone who was plagued by the yips only 18 months ago.
She was on cruise control for much of this contest, which was briefly interrupted by a ‘free-Palestine’ protester. The occasion seemed to get to Zheng, the 12th seed, who said in her speech that she had felt “a little bit dizzy”.
But then it was a mismatch in so many ways: power, experience and proven quality. The unpredictable nature of the women’s draw can be seen from the fact that Zheng beat no opponent ranked higher than British Katie Boulter, who is the world No 54.
It’s strange now to think that, on Sabalenka’s first visit to Rod Laver Arena in 2018, the fans mocked her exaggerated grunt. Now she is a fixture on this court: a two-time Australian Open champion with power to add.
In lifting the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup without having dropped a set, Sabalenka joined Ash Barty, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport in the elite club of players to have done so this century.
"I'm speechless," Sabalenka, 25, said at her news conference as she sipped a glass of wine. "I don't know how to describe my emotions. But definitely, I'm super, super happy and proud of everything I was able to achieve so far.
"Yeah, just happy with the level I played," the Belarusian said and then paid a compliment to her opponent: "She's a great player and (a) very tough opponent."
Sabalenka dropped only one set at last year's tournament and her dominance this year is a further reflection of the maturity and emotional control she has built in the last 12 months.
"I didn't want to be a player who won it and disappeared," Sabalenka said.
Sabalenka's form has helped her reach at least the semi-finals at the last six majors including at Wimbledon last year.