Defending champion Sabalenka beats Coco Gauff, will meet Zheng in Australian Open final
Gauff went into the semifinals unbeaten in 2024 after winning a title in Auckland, New Zealand.
The 19-year-old American was on a 12-match winning streak in majors and attempting to be the first player since Naomi Osaka in 2020-21 to win the U.S. Open and Australian Open back to back.
She’d worked out how to beat Sabalenka at the U.S. Open to win her first major title, but didn’t have the answers this time against the only player in the final four with semifinal experience in Australia.
The first set contained six service breaks, with both players missing opportunities to serve it out.
Sabalenka led 5-2 and missed a set point as Gauff held firm and went on a four-game roll to take a 6-5 lead. Gauff also couldn’t serve it out, with Sabalenka’s booming returns continuing to cause her trouble.
In the tiebreaker, Sabalenka raced to 5-1. Chants of “Coco, Coco” went up around Rod Laver Arena but they didn’t help Gauff.
Almost a half-hour after her first set point, Sabalenka got five more. She clinched on the second of those with a big serve out wide.
Gauff won points on just three of her 17 second serves in the first set, and that made her push harder and led to six double-faults.
The second set was tight, until Sabalenka got a service break in the ninth game.
She missed her first match point when Gauff saved with a forehand winner to end a 12-shot rally.
An ace down the middle earned a second match point and Sabalenka clinched it after 1 hour, 42 minutes.
Gauff entered the Australian Open needing six wins to reach 50 in Grand Slams before turning 20. She has 49. That she didn’t win a second major as a teenager wasn’t a huge concern.
“I tend to be hard on myself, so I feel like, today, was like, ‘Dang!’” she said. “But I think looking back overall at this stage of my life, it was a successful time.”
She said she saw statistics that ranked her close to Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati in the teenage seasons.
“I looked at that stat and I’m like, ‘They had great careers. So I’m in the right direction,’” she said. “I just have to remind myself of the journey and not so much of the moment.
“I am really proud of myself. I did want to win a Slam as a teenager, and I did that. I was hoping to get number two, or at least give myself a chance to get number two. I feel it can only go upwards from here.”
In doubles, 43-year-old Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden advanced to their second consecutive Grand Slam men’s final by beating Zhang Zhizhen and Tomas Machac 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7).
Tournament officials said Bopanna and Ebden, at a combined age of 79, will become the oldest No. 1 pairing in tennis history after the tournament.
Bopanna and Ebden, ranked second in men’s doubles, will play Italian pair Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori on Saturday in the final.