Sabalenka fully intent on defending lair
Powerful ‘tigress’ into final after revenge against Gauff Zheng eases past qualifier to set up clash with Belarusian
Just over a decade ago, a feisty Belarusian with a noisy grunt won backto-back Australian Opens. Now history is on the verge of repeating itself.
For Victoria Azarenka – who dominated Rod Laver Arena in 2012 and 2013 – read Aryna Sabalenka, the most venomous ball-striker on the tour. Having eliminated Coco Gauff 7-6, 6-4 in yesterday’s semi-final, Sabalenka will start as the heavy favourite to defeat Zheng Qinwen tomorrow and retain her title.
If Azarenka was part of a new generation of power players when she thrashed Maria Sharapova in the 2012 final, then Sabalenka is still more intimidating. Everything about her is bigger: her shoulders, her groundstrokes, even her grunt. Where Azarenka makes a hooting sound, Sabalenka’s extended roar resonates around the stadium like a passing Harley-davidson.
Gauff was tactful on this subject afterwards, even though Sabalenka’s grunt was often carrying on even as she made contact with the ball. “I feel like at least with her it’s consistent,” Gauff replied, “so it doesn’t bother me. I mean, I’ve played a player in the past where they would grunt longer on purpose on the 30-all or deuce point.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to grunt while the person is hitting. When you’re playing her, you know that’s what she’s going to do. I don’t think it’s a tactic or anything. I think that’s just how she plays.”
For Sabalenka, this match was an opportunity to avenge last year’s US Open final. That was a difficult loss to swallow, because she held a oneset lead that evaporated in a welter of wild errors.
It was a different story yesterday. Even though Gauff covered the court like a blanket, and suggested after the match that she had played better here than she did in New York, Sabalenka kept calm and kept firing her blunderbuss groundstrokes into the corners of the court. This time, there was no meltdown in her guidance computer.
“I think the key was that I was able to stay focused, no matter what the score was,” Sabalenka said, before paying tribute to the sporting nature of the Melbourne crowd. “At the US Open, they [the fans] were crazy. At some time it’s getting really annoying because they scream during the point. Today, it was nice to feel that support, like she had at the US Open.”
It may have helped that this was a showery day in Melbourne, leading to the closure of the roof over Rod Laver Arena. As a woman with a steepling ball toss and an all-ornothing game style, Sabalenka does not like playing in the wind. But she seemed to relish this indoor assignment, judging by the fact that she landed 76 per cent of her first serves – comfortably her highest figure of the fortnight.
Gauff was much less accurate, at 57 per cent. And when she missed, her second delivery often met with merciless treatment, screaming back past her before she could move. Speaking on Eurosport, Mats Wilander – who won here three times in the 1980s – recommended that Gauff needed to do more work in order to make that second serve less attackable.
Every time Sabalenka came under pressure – as when Gauff served for the opening set – she did not throttle back but instead swung even harder, with often spectacular results. It was exactly the right way to go about improving her dicey record in major semi-finals, which previously stood at just two wins from seven attempts. As Sam Smith, the Channel Nine commentator, put it, “She’s been like a tigress defending her lair.”
Meanwhile, China’s Zheng overcame the Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 6-4. The first few games were nervy on both sides, for neither of these women had played a major semi-final before. Yastremska was swinging out of her shoes, aiming for winners on almost every shot. But Zheng has a more rounded game and she gradually got a grip on her streaky opponent.
In another echo of the early 2010s, Zheng is the first Chinese player to reach the final here since Li Na. The runner-up in 2011 and 2013 (the second time to Azarenka) eventually claimed the title in 2014. When the two women conferred before the match, Li advised her protege: “Don’t think too much, just play.”
Looking forward to the final, Zheng is better equipped than most to halt the Belarusian juggernaut. Having not yet dropped a set, Sabalenka has spent a super-efficient 6hr 55min on the court to date. But she can be discomfited by an opponent who puts a lot of balls back into play, as Gauff demonstrated in New York. Also, Zheng is coached by Pere Riba, the young Spaniard who was in Gauff ’s player box during the US Open.
Yet the bookmakers are right to make Zheng a hefty underdog. Her serve, just like Gauff ’s, has technical flaws that show up at pressure moments. Sabalenka – the woman with the tiger tattoo – is likely to feast on it tomorrow.