Only Zheng can stop Sabalenka

Only she, Qinwen Zheng, can stop the overwhelming Aryna Sabalenka, who attacks, hits and accelerates towards her second trophy in Melbourne, which would also be the second in a major.

The 25-year-old Belarusian overcame this Thursday the tough resistance of the American Coco Gauff (7-6 (2) and 6-4, in 1h 42m) and will meet the Chinese in the final this Saturday (starting 9.30, Eurosport).

It adds up and continues, because she already has 13 wins in Melbourne and because if there is a reliable player on the big stages it is her, the toughest arm on the circuit;

a lot of power, yes, but in a year here, its consistency has also multiplied.

Since Serena Williams chained the finals in 2016 and 2017, no player had achieved it.

She bursts in again in the final episode Sabalenka and, she says, she does it with an extra motivation for the final that she missed in September in New York.

“That day I was a little passive, I slowed down, but in the preseason I worked on shots to reach the net and finish there,” she explains.

Her determination is reflected in the results of these days.

Without giving up a single set so far, only Gauff, the same one who beat him that day in the definition of the US Open, has managed to really make him uncomfortable.

The rest, relatively comfortable walks or triumphs.

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The number two in the world – the accounts prevent her from unseating the Polish Iga Swiatek on the throne, even if she wins the title – intends to follow in the footsteps of her compatriot Victoria Azarenka, the last one who won two consecutive crowns in the Australian

(2012 and 2013 ).

“I know I will be ready to fight, I will not go crazy.

When you play your first final you tend to get excited and rush.

Now I'm quite calm,” she says while Zheng, a newcomer to these levels, takes notes.

The Asian, a promising 21-year-old player, has known how to take advantage of the gaps in the draw - she has not faced any

- And, why not, she and her coach, the Catalan Pere Riba, think, she aspires to give the bell ringing

If Sabalenka tries to emulate Azarenka, she follows in the footsteps of Na Li, champion a decade ago.

Her access to her final (double 6-4 against Yamstremska, in 1h 42m as well) means the fourth for a Chinese tennis player, simplifying the previous three for her compatriot;

two in Melbourne and another at Roland Garros.

So far, she and Sabalenka have met only once.

It was last year, on the asphalt of the US Open.

Victorious then, the second hopes to prevail again.

“She is playing the best tennis of her life,” refers to Zheng, fifteenth in the world and, indeed, on a very optimistic wave.

On the other hand, this morning Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner will face each other in the first men's semifinal.

The second will feature (9.30, Eurosport) the Russian Daniil Medvedev and the German Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz's executioner in the quarterfinals.

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