Zheng Qinwen makes China proud as Australian Open 2024 runner-up

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus defeated Zheng Qinwen of China 6-3, 6-2 in the women's singles final at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday to win her second straight title at the tournament and also her second overall Grand Slam singles title.

As the second-seeded player in the women's event at Melbourne Park this year, Sabalenka lifted the championship with absolute dominance. She won all seven matches without dropping even one set. In fact, she played one tiebreak in only one match against Coco Gauff of the U.S. in the semifinals. That was the only match in this tournament in which Sabalenka dropped more than three games in a set.

Sabalenka and Zheng played once before Saturday's match in the women's singles quarterfinals at the U.S. Open last year. That was Zheng's best performance at any of the Grand Slam tournaments until this year's Australian Open. Zheng had lost that match 1-6, 4-6.

Sabalenka began Saturday's contest with sharp aggression. She broke Zheng's serve early to begin the first set with a 3-0 lead and held all five of her serves to win the first set in 33 minutes. In the second set, Sabalenka broke twice to lead 5-2. Though Zheng put up solid resistance in the final game, Sabalenka ended it with a forehand winner after an eight-minute game.

The loss showed the gap between Zheng and Sabalenka, one of the world's best players in terms of skills, power and experience. However, it also displayed Zheng's excellent growth in the past year. She served the most aces (54) in the women's singles event at the Australian Open this year. In the final on Saturday, she saved four match points. Her performance on the way to the final match earned her the nickname "Comeback Queen" on the Chinese Internet.

Thirteen years ago, China's greatest tennis player, Li Na, reached the Australian Open final for the first time. She lost to Kim Clijsters of Belgium at the time, but in the same year, Li won her first Grand Slam singles title at the French Open. She made the Australian Open women's singles final for the second time in 2013, but lost to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. One year later, in her third final at Melbourne Park, Li beat Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia to win the title.

Zheng made her Grand Slam singles final debut at 21, much younger than Li, who did at 29. She has a lot to learn and a lot of time to do it. Zheng's rapid growth gives her nothing but good reasons to believe in her future.