Aryna Sabalenka’s route to a second consecutive title at the Australian Open was briefly interrupted on Saturday evening at the Rod Laver Arena by protestors during the women’s singles final against Qinwen Zheng. It happened early in the second set, shortly after which Sabalenka successfully defended her crown with a 6-3, 6-2 win to become the first player since Victoria Azarenka (2012 and 2013) to win back-to-back titles.

A second protest the Australian Open struck on one of its main showcourts as a few spectators began shouting when Zheng was 3-6, 0-2 down against Sabalenka in the final. The Chinese was on game point, and had the opportunity to get on the scoreboard in the second set, when the chaos began.

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Two protestors waved the Palestine flag and screamed “Free Palestine”, just as Zheng was into her service routine, forcing her to hold off for a few minutes as security raced towards the two spectators.

“The crowd aren’t very happy about the disturbance. It seems like we’re going to have to deal with this, I can see some security involved,” Jo Durie said on commentary. Naomi Cavaday replied: “They can’t play until this is dealt with.

“There are some people being removed which sounds like they are being dealt with swiftly. Oh no, here we go. This is so hard for the players, right in the middle of their concentration zones.” When play resumed in quick time, Durie added: “It’s a good job from the security for sorting that sharpish.”

This was the second instance of a ‘Free Palestine’ protest after a men’s singles match, in the fourth round, between Cameron Norrie and Alexander Zverev was interrupted when a protestor threw leaflets bearing the same words, on the court. The play was briefly halted for few minutes as ball kids and court staff took their time to tidy them while the few spectators dragged the protestor out of the stands.

Zheng later held her serve in that third game of the second set, but was broken on her next service game as Sabalenka raced to a 4-1 lead. Zheng later saved four championship points, showing signs of a late fightback, but Sabalenka crushed her hopes to script a memorable win.