After two weeks of jostling, we now know who the women’s singles final will be between at Australian Open 2024. And it promises to be a cracker, with defending champion Aryna Sabalenka taking on Zheng Qinwen of China for the title after the semifinals on Day 12.
Sabalenka became the first woman to reach back-to-back finals in Melbourne since Serena Williams in 2016-17 after she beat Coco Gauff 7-6(2) 6-4 in a Thursday night contest of the highest quality.
“It was an incredible match,” said Sabalenka, after gaining revenge on Gauff for her defeat in the US Open final last September. “She's a great player, always tough battles against her. I think the key was that I was able to stay focused, no matter what, no matter what the score was, I just keep trying my best, keep fighting for it.”
Gauff came from 5-2 down in the first set and served for the opener at 6-5, but couldn’t close it out. One break sealed her fate in the second set.
“I had chances in both sets, but she played better tonight,” Gauff said. “I felt like I did my best with the game plan that I had. I think it just came down to a couple of points.”
Ten years after Li Na won the title in Australia, China has another finalist with Zheng showing incredible poise on the biggest occasion of her life to beat another first-time semifinalist, Dayana Yastremska, 6-4 6-4.
“It feels unbelievable,” she said. “It’s tough to explain my feelings right now.”
Being world No. 1 is clearly suiting Rohan Bopanna. One day after becoming the oldest man ever to top the doubles rankings, the Indian moved into his first Australian Open final as he and Matt Ebden held off Czech Tomas Machac and Zhang Zhizhen of China 6-3 3-6 7-6[10-7].
The pair led 5-2 in the decider and had three match points in the following game, but needed to hold their nerve in the tiebreak to get over the line.
“It's amazing to be back in another Grand Slam final, and a different Grand Slam,” Bopanna said. “For Matt, it's definitely the home Grand Slam. For me also I consider this a lot to be the home Grand Slam, coming from the Asian continent.”
In the final, they will play the Italian duo of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, who also needed a deciding tiebreak to get the better of the all-German combination of Yannick Hanfmann and Dominik Koepfer 6-3 3-6 7-6[10-5].
There will be a distinct air of familiarity, meanwhile, about the wheelchair singles finals.
In the women’s event, world No. 1 Diede de Groot will take on Yui Kamiji for the title after beating Jiske Griffioen 6-1 6-2, while the Japanese defeated Kgothatso Montjane of South Africa 6-1 6-4.
And the omens don’t look good for Kamiji, who has lost the last 15 slam finals she’s contested, all to De Groot, whose winning streak now stands at 134 matches, dating back to February 2021.
Alfie Hewett will face Tokito Oda of Japan for the fourth slam final in the past five. Top seed Hewett beat Joachim Gerard 6-4 6-1, while Oda took out Gordon Reid 7-6(4) 7-5.
On a day when rain forced the cancellation of many matches at Melbourne Park, there was defeat for one of the biggest names in the junior event, 14-year-old Ksenia Efremova outplayed 6-2 6-1 by top seed Renata Jamrichova of Slovakia in the junior girls' singles quarterfinals.