Sabalenka’s superwoman but that was one of the worst Australian Open finals

Aryna Sabalenka paraded the Australian Open trophy at Carlton Gardens on Sunday. Her real walk in the park came the night before.

Aryna Sabalenka poses with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after giving Qinwen Zheng of China a tennis lesson in the women’s final on Saturday at Melbourne Park. Picture: Getty Images

That was the worst Australian Open final in memory and yet it wasn’t Aryna Sabalenka’s fault. You can hardly blame an athlete for being too good and ruthless. Siberian tigers in the Russian woodlands are presently lining up to get tattoos of Sabalenka on their front left legs. As a reminder of the requirement to fight.

What a fizzer of a fixture. Tennis matches are only as good as the weakest player. Qinwen Zheng had a shocker. One peeved ticketholder wanted her money back, “And I got a freebie!”

The Chinese 21-year-old reached the decider without having to beat anyone in the top 50. The rise in class was completely beyond her. She was a deer in the headlights, a lamb to the slaughter.

Sabalenka’s 6-3 6-2 triumph came and went in the blink of an eye – an hour and 16 minutes that showcased Belarus’s world No.2 in all her super-powerful, super-motivated, super-loud, super-unstoppable might but really, the evening fell flat and too quickly.

“I’m speechless right now,” Sabalenka said. “I don’t know how to describe my emotions but definitely I’m super happy and proud of everything I was able to achieve. Happy with the level I played. Super happy I was able to get the win. Super excited.

“In the past I’d get super-emotional and let the tennis get away. I’m super-proud I was able to control my emotions.”

You want a super sense of occasion in a championship match. A super battle. A super fight. At least some semblance of a contest.

Rod Laver Arena had hummed for a fortnight. This time it was super-bummed. The average length of a rally was 2.84 strokes. Super quick.

It was clear after about five minutes that Zheng was out of her depth.

When Sabalenka and her tiger tattoo reached her first match point, at 6-3 5-2 40-0, the joint went super quiet.

That was telling. Match point is when Rod Laver Arena crowds get to their feet to applaud and cheer and salute and mark the moment. Now they sat on their hands in super-awkward silence.

Only when Zheng saved four match points did the super-disappointed mood perk up a bit. A comeback! Yes! Please! Sabalenka won anyway.

She deserved to be super glad after a final that was super bad. All super-impressive from the sport’s superwoman after she couldn’t consistently serve a ball over the net less than two years ago.

“There was really a moment when I didn’t believe that I’m going to win a major one day,” Sabalenka said. “Especially the period when I was serving double faults and couldn’t fix my serve.

“There were a lot of up and downs. I just couldn’t quit. I felt like I just have to keep doing what I’m doing. I just have to keep fighting for my dream and make sure that if there is something – I want to believe there is something in me.”

Sabalenka in full flight during the final. Picture: Getty Images

Her father and coach, Sergey, died suddenly in 2019 at age 43.

“I want to believe that my father is watching me and he’s very proud of me,” she said. “So I just couldn’t stop, for my family.

“Of course there are moments when you’re like, I will probably never get it. But you just have to keep trying. You’ll see at the end if it’s meant to be for you or not. You just have to stop thinking negative, you know?”

You might be able to jag one major title. You cannot fluke two. Sabalenka joined superstars like Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Margaret Court as back-to-back Open champions.

“Actually it’s been on my mind that I didn’t want to be that player who won it and then disappeared,” she said. “I just wanted to show that I’m able to be consistently there and I’m able to win another one. I really hope for more, more than two, but right now for me that was really important.

“No matter what the result, win or lose, we are always working … it’s all about the process and the discipline and making sure you’re always there and you always show up.”

Sabalenka showed up at Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building at Carlton Gardens on Sunday for a photo shoot with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. Taking the pictures took longer than winning the match. Her biggest walk in the park had come the night before.

It was a fitting location given the royal exhibition she put on against Zheng but let’s be honest, the overwhelmed and outclassed Chinese player had a shocker.

If she was a racehorse in her first Group 1, you’d reckon she’s not up to the class. If she was a rugby league team copping such a hiding, you’d be calling the club’s CEO to ask if the coach’s job was still safe. Just an entirely forgettable night at the office.

“I didn’t play my tennis,” Zheng said. “If I play against Sabalenka at this level … the match went away really fast. She’s a really aggressive player. If you let a chance go, it will happen like today.

‘There’s not going to be big wins without really tough losses’, Sabalenka said after dispatching a dispirited Zheng.

“Basically I think I could done much better than that. If you talk about being nervous, I was actually OK. The difference is Aryna takes away the rhythm compared to the other players.”

Zheng added: “I didn’t perform my best. I wasn’t feeling that good there. That’s really a pity for me because I really wanted to show I’m better than that.

“Maybe I have to work more on my tennis. Work more on my mental side. Work more on myself to be able to get through this moment.

“If you lose, there must be reason why you lose. We have to figure out why and come back stronger and better next time.”

Sabalenka was the queen of super-dispiriting, super-discombobulated and super-emotional losses until she became superwoman last year.

Her advice to Zheng: “There’s not going to be big wins without really tough losses. I think it all comes with experience. I was very down after those matches. I was crying, I was smashing the racquet, I was really crazy.

“But then after a day or two we sit down with the team and think, ‘OK, what do we have to do to fix it? To make sure this will never happen again?’

“You just have to accept the process and enjoy the process and trust the process and believe that next time you’ll do better.”