Aryna Sabalenka wins the Australian Open
Sabalenka* 6-2 Zheng (6-3)
They play ‘staying alive’ by the Bee Gees in between games which seems really apt for Zheng.
Sabalenka is now serving for the match.
She races into a 40-0 lead with three match points, surely this is the moment she was dreaming of last night.
The nerves seem to be there as she sends two shots wide of the base line to bring Zheng back to 40-30.
Before we know it, the game is back to deuce after a great drop shot by Zheng.
Zheng is making Sabalenka work for this win as she pulls it back to deuce from match point once again before putting the pressure right on with a break point.
Sabalenka lets out a huge roar as she wins the point to take herself to championship point once again.
She plays a forehand return across court to seal the victory.
Sabalenka 5-2 Zheng* (6-3)
Zheng has to serve to stay in the match now.
She plays some good shots to win the first two points before Sabalenka pulls one back.
A return goes deep, giving Zheng two game points.
She holds her serve to make Sabalenka work for this win.
Sabalenka* 5-1 Zheng (6-3)
Zheng makes a brilliant start to the game, getting into a 30-0 lead.
Sabalenka seems to thrive on pressure and pulls it back to 30-30.
A deep, hard serve wins another points to put her a point away from holding another service game and she duly delivers.
She is now one game away from the title.
Credit: EPA
Sabalenka 4-1 Zheng* (6-3)
Zheng is the only player to serve a double fault in this game and they are coming back to haunt her.
She has to dig deep and a great return on her second serve wrong foots her opponent to take the point.
Drop shots are coming into Zheng’s game and testing Sabalenka.
Sabalenka is returning deep and pulls the game back to deuce.
Zheng serves a double fault, the second of this game, putting Sabalenka in a break point positon.
Aryna Sabalenka plays an amazing drop shot to break the serve.
Sabalenka* 3-1 Zheng (6-3)
Sabalenka starts strongly but in the second point, Zheng returns a first serve brilliantly.
The game goes one way, then the other but the big Sabalenka serve is always a problem to any player.
She goes on to hold her serve and take a commanding lead in the second set.