Aryna Sabalenka has apologised to Chinese tennis fans for beating Qinwen Zheng in to win the Australian Open.
China’s Zheng went down in straight sets to back-to-back champion Sabalenka, who didn’t drop a set for the entire tournament on her way to claiming her second major title
The sight of a helpless Zheng left millions of Chinese fans shattered watching from overseas, but they were comforted by an unlikely source when Sabalenka herself offered a message of support.
Sabalenka took to Chinese microblogging website Weibo to issue a video apology to Zheng’s fans on the night of her victory.
“Hi guys, here I am with the trophy. I am so sorry, I know you all support Qinwen, I understand this,” Sabalenka said while holding the Australian Open trophy in the video.
“Anyway, thank you so much for all the support, I love playing in China, hopefully I will come back this year to China.
“Thank you so much and see you soon,” she concluded, blowing a kiss towards the camera.
A shattered but circumspect Zheng after the match gave credit to her opponent.
“Congrats to Aryna to have such a wonderful match here,” Zheng said.
“I didn’t perform my best. That’s a real pity for me, because I really want to show better than that.”
She lamented an early blip, losing her opening serve, and was then unable to take advantage of three break points to put the set back on serve.
“I think in this match I’m start pretty slow,” Zheng said.
“The difference is the beginning, I can’t hold the service game. Then later on, when I got the chance to break her 40-love up and I’m not able to make it.
“You know, that little moment makes the match so different.
“She’s a really aggressive player and if you let a chance go, it will happen like today.”
Despite her remorse, Sabalenka is hungry for more and hopes a second Australian Open title will serve as merely the appetiser before a feast of grand-slam spoils.
(7 NEWS)
