Defending champion Sabalenka beats Coco Gauff, will meet Zheng in Australian Open final
Associated PressMELBOURNE, Australia — Aryna Sabalenka has taken her Australian Open title defense all the way back to the championship match because she has applied a crucial lesson from her U.S. Open final loss to Coco Gauff. Zheng lost in the U.S. Open quarterfinals to Sabalenka last year in her best previous run at a major but said she’s more prepared this time. I’m super excited to have such a great performance today and arrive in the final,” said Zheng, who hasn’t faced a player ranked in the top 50 in six rounds. but, you know, it’s a match, so let’s see what’s going to happen in the final.” Sabalenka said she’d been “ready for anything” against Gauff, and was happy to have some support in the crowd after facing the 19-year-old American in New York last September. “I tend to be hard on myself, so today was like, ‘Dang!’ But looking back overall at this stage of my life, it was a successful time.” Gauff said she saw statistics that ranked her close to Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati in their teens.