BY JAMES BECK
Coco Gauff may have to wait a couple of years before she is proclaimed the greatest women’s tennis player.
Aryna Sabalenka appears to have that title wrapped up for the present.
Is the 25-year-old Belarussian better than the 19-year-old American? Obviously yes for the moment, after Sabalenka’s 7-6 (7), 6-4 win over Gauff in the Australian Open semifinals, and then Sabalenka’s 6-3, 6-2 breeze by 21-year-old Qinwen Zheng in Saturday’s women’s final Down Under
TOUGHER COMPETITION AHEAD FOR COCO?
Maybe to make matters tougher for Gauff, Zheng may be ready to join the battle quicker than anyone could have dreamed.
Yes, the final was a breeze, but the young and tall Chinese star demonstrated great potential against the powerful Sabalenka.
Then again, Sabalenka never seemed to be worried about winning a second straight Australian Open crown. No matter what Zheng came up with, Sabalenka generally had the answer.
Sabalenka just decided to concentrate a little deeper when Zheng tried to make things interesting.
SABALENKA TO MUCH FOR ZHENG
Sabalenka was simply too big, strong and talented to let the lean Chinese player make things real difficult for her.
And it’s those same features that might be Gauff’s toughest enemy to overcome in the near future.
But, of course, Gauff has plenty of time since she’s still a teen-ager.
TWO BIG SURPRISES IN TWO DAYS
This year’s semifinals may have been among the most surprising in a long time
Not only did crowd favorite Gauff go down in the women’s semifinals, the legendary Novak Djokovic didn’t have what it takes to go for an 11th Australian Open men’s title.
Novak appeared really worried and puzzled as early as the first set that he lost 6-1 to hard-hitting and talented Italian Jannik Sinner in the semifinals. And Djokovic didn’t appear any more in the match in a 6-2 second set.
At that point, it was over. Sinner just wouldn’t allow Djokovic to make a match of it. Sinner hit and served harder, and moved better than Novak.
Even though Novak won the third set in a tiebreaker only to lose the match 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3, Sinner was just too good for the 36-year-old Serbian.
HAS THE FUTURE CHANGED?
Whether the match was a sample of what’s to come in the latter stages of Novak’s historic career, it likely was an example of the talented Sinner’s future.
Yes, in two days, the present outlook of both men’s and women’s professional tennis was altered.
No Coco. No Novak.
Both had headed home before the finals.
Indian Wells and Miami are still there, but the red clay of Paris in about four months probably holds the answers to both puzzles.
James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award for print media. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at [email protected].
Emma Navarro USTA STORY BY BECK LINK
https://www.usta.com/en/home/stay-current/southern/emma-navarro-s-quick-rise-to-no–31.html#tab=tournaments
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