Aryna Sabalenka retained her Australian Open title in emphatic fashion in Melbourne and Mats Wilander has suggested she may be unstoppable at the top of the women’s game.
The world No 2 lifted her first Grand Slam trophy at Melbourne Park 12 months ago and has been untouchable this fortnight.
She did not drop a set in seven matches and defeated Zheng 6-3 6-2 to become the first player since countrywoman Victoria Azarenka 11 years ago to claim back-to-back titles.
Zheng, who had not had to face a top-50 player through the first six rounds, had hoped to emulate the watching Li Na and claim the title for China a decade on.
The big-hitting performance inspired three-time Australian Open champion Wilander to suggest Sabalenka will be tough to stop as she has too much power for her rivals.
He also predicted how many more Grand Slam titles she would win, as he set the bar high.
“The big difference between her and a lot of other players who win majors is she is clearly overpowering these players,” Wilander told Eurosport.
“Ash Barty was a crafty player who played with finesse, but not Sabalenka – she is hitting the ball with more power than anyone on the women’s tour.
“I think it’s going to translate into really good results, and probably win more majors on the other surfaces too.
“I’m going to go out on a limb – I don’t think she wins two, three, I think she wins seven, eight majors in the next three or four years because she’s so much better now than she was two years ago in my eyes.
“For her, it’s a relief. When the pressure is on and you think you’re going to win because for sure she thought she was going to win, and then she came out and played that well – it’s a lot of relief and ‘where is my first glass of champagne’.”
Former Australian Open champion Justine Henin suggested the nerves Sabalenka displayed as she served for the match were natural, as all the pressure was on the Belarusian in a match she was expected to win.
“It’s logical. We’ve seen that a few times before, that little moment of tension at the end,” Henin told Surosport.
“Overall, everything we’ve seen since the start of the tournament, Sabalenka was ready, it’s a place she loves.
“She put her hands on this final from the very first points. That was the risk, we knew it could happen. She really prevented Zheng from expressing herself. There will be regrets for Zheng, who I think is capable of more. But it’s tough in a first Grand Slam final.
“There were some interesting things in the first set, despite everything. She was broken right from the start and that hurt her a lot. She had chances to break, but it was a bit of a misunderstanding: there wasn’t anything in her game that made us think she was really going to be able to do that again.
“She was far too non-existent on the return, but she managed to win her service games with varying degrees of authority. But with the break at the start of the second set, she’s finally going to let go.
“From that point on, Sabalenka had plenty of space and peace of mind and she impressed with her power. She was so solid. She was very impressive with perhaps too little adversity today.”
“Sabalenka has been Swiatek’s main rival for a while now, ever since she won the Australian Open last year.
“We felt a hierarchy had been established. Today, she’s going for another title, it’s written all over her and it’s another line in her record. That’s a lot of confidence and it’s impressive because Sabalenka has come a long way in terms of emotional management and even certain aspects of tennis.
“You can see that she’s a girl who works very hard and has ambition. She’s put the emphasis on concentrating on what’s essential, i.e. the game she wants to develop, putting that pressure to one side and focusing on what she can master.
“I think that’s a remarkable piece of work over the last two years and she’s been rewarded for it.”
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