Is the Belarusian unstoppable?
In a curious women’s singles match, in which just five of the top ten seeded players even made it into the third round, a very notable final has emerged in the end. On the one hand, Aryna Sabalenka, the defending champion, made it to the final again, while on the other, Qinwen Zheng, the number twelve seed, made it to the top half of the tournament bracket. Qinwen Zheng’s bet against Aryna Sabalenka for another overall victory for the Belarusian is now more favorable:
Not only has the defending champion already won the early final against Coco Gauff (WTA 4) 2:0 (7:6 and 6:4), but the Belarusian has not lost a set in the entire tournament. Overall, the defending champion has now won 13 singles matches in a row at the hard-court Grand Slam in Melbourne. The forecast for Qinwen Zheng against Aryna Sabalenka is correspondingly interesting: she can also record a clean 2:0 victory in this final match
While the Chinese youngster should certainly not be written off prematurely, her six convincing victories made her only the second Chinese player after Li Na (2014) to secure a ticket to the Australian Open final. Ultimately, however, Qinwen Zheng also lacks experience at this level. The 21-year-old is entering uncharted territory in the Rod Laver Arena and needs a day when everything really falls into place to really reach for the stars
In contrast, there is much more to suggest that the experienced Aryna Sabalenka will leave nothing to chance in this match and secure the title defense with another convincing 2:0 victory.
Qinwen Zheng – statistics & current form
Current position in the world rankings: 15
Position in the seeding list: 12
The 21-year-old Chinese player Qinwen Zheng is the greatest hope from China since Li Na, who not only won the French Open in 2011, but also secured the Australian Open in 2014 in her last active year as a professional tennis player.
Qinwen Zheng, who says she was positively influenced by Li Na in her youth, has now become the second Chinese woman of all time to reach a Grand Slam final. Of course, she now wants to make it to the big time, which Li Na only managed to do on her third attempt after losing the finals in 2011 and 2013
Qinwen Zheng has already lost to Aryna Sabalenka at the US Open
However, the 21-year-old young hopeful’s run did not really begin. Although Qinwen Zheng won two of the three singles matches at the United Cup 2024, she has yet to win any major titles
At Grand Slam level, she has only reached the quarter-finals at the 2023 US Open, where her journey ended with a 2-0 defeat against her current opponent. With this in mind, the odds are also in the Chinese player’s favor ahead of the Australian Open final between Qinwen Zheng and Aryna Sabalenka:
Qinwen Zheng didn’t have to take out a single big name
During the tournament, Qinwen Zheng struggled at times. In the quarter-finals against Anna Kalinskaya (WTA 75), she benefited from an injury to her opponent after trailing 0:1 in the first set in a 2:1 comeback victory. Meanwhile, she dropped further sets in her opening match against Ashlyn Krueger (WTA 76) and in the third round against compatriot Yafan Wang (WTA 94), against whom she even had to go to a tie-break in the decider.
After all, nothing more happened in the semi-final against Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska (WTA 93). Within 97 minutes, the 21-year-old, who scored on her first serve 76 percent of the time and fended off eight out of ten break points, secured a convincing 2:0 victory (6:4 and 6:4). It should be noted, however, that not a single opponent from the current top 50 of the WTA world rankings stood in her way on her way to the grand final
Aryna Sabalenka – statistics & current form
Current position in the world rankings: 2
Position in the seeding list: 2
The 25-year-old Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka has increasingly become a perennial favorite on the WTA Tour. Since the creeping end of the Serena Williams era, the women’s singles at the major tournaments have been dominated by other names time and again. Overall, there has been little consistency at the top.
However, the player from Minsk is a major exception here. At the Australian Open 2024, the Belarusian reached the semi-finals of a women’s singles event for the sixth Grand Slam tournament in a row
Aryna Sabalenka strolled into the final without dropping a set
Now Aryna Sabalenka is in the grand final for the third time after the Australian Open 2023, when she secured her first Grand Slam title in Melbourne, and the US Open 2023, when she was beaten by Coco Gauff in the final.
On her way to the final, the 25-year-old not only took revenge on Coco Gauff (WTA 4) for losing the US Open final and knocked the American out of the semi-finals 2-0 (7-6 and 6-4), but also won all six singles matches at this year’s Australian Open 2-0.
Aryna Sabalenka is one win away from defending her title
In total, the Belarusian has now won 13 singles matches in a row at the Australian Open. Only one win separates her from successfully defending her title, which would be the logical consequence of two strong weeks. In any case, Qinwen Zheng’s bet on another triumph for the world number two against Aryna Sabalenka is a very good one.
The Belarusian also impressed with a strong service game in the semi-final against Coco Gauff, who many experts had high on her list as a recent US Open winner. Her first serve was received 76 percent of the time and won her the point 70 percent of the time. 46 percent of return points won against a top player like Coco Gauff did the rest, spoke a clear language and underlined the major role that Aryna Sabalenka now plays on the WTA Tour
Qinwen Zheng – Aryna Sabalenka Direct comparison / H2H result
Head to head: 0:1
Both players had just faced each other at the last Grand Slam tournament to date when their paths crossed in the quarter-finals of the 2023 US Open. Aryna Sabalenka won 2:0 in two sets against Qinwen Zheng (6:1 and 6:4). Now the Chinese player will get her chance for revenge
Qinwen Zheng – Aryna Sabalenka tip
Below the line, our prediction for Qinwen Zheng against Aryna Sabalenka is for the Belarusian to defend her title, who has left nothing to be desired with six smooth 2:0 victories and also won the early final against Coco Gauff with ease. Of course, a final like this is a whole different ball game mentally. However, the 25-year-old already held her nerve here in Melbourne a year ago when she was crowned Grand Slam winner for the first time with a 2:1 comeback victory over Elena Rybakina
It’s not uncommon to hear in tennis circles that the first Grand Slam is perceived as the hardest. All the more reason for the Belarusian to defend her title, having already won the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup in the Rod Laver Arena a year ago.
We recommend betting on the Belarusian to win her second Grand Slam trophy with a clean 2:0 victory. Bet365 is offering betting odds of 1.63 on Qinwen Zheng against Aryna Sabalenka, which we are backing with four out of ten units. By the way, if you are not yet registered with this bookmaker, you now have a good reason to do so.
