Australian Open day 14: Aryna Sabalenka celebrates back-to-back titles

The story of the 14th day of action at Melbourne Park.

Saturday 27 January 2024 11:45 GMT

Aryna Sabalenka reacts to her final victory (Alessandra Tarantino/AP) (AP)

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Aryna Sabalenka defeated Zheng Qinwen to make it back-to-back titles at the Australian Open.

The second seed did not drop a set all fortnight, beating first-time major finalist Zheng 6-3 6-2 to become the first woman since fellow Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in 2013 to successfully defend the trophy.

Britain’s Alfie Hewett was unable to match Sabalenka, losing 6-2 6-4 to Tokito Oda in the men’s wheelchair final.

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Diede rolls on

Who’s up next?

The tournament will crown a first time Australian Open champion in the men’s singles on Sunday night.

After stunning Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, 22-year-old fourth seed Jannik Sinner goes into his first grand slam decider as the favourite.

There he will take on third seed Daniil Medvedev, who has survived three five-set matches and will hope to make it third time lucky having finished as runner-up in 2021 and 2022.

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