Now, with just one week left until the start of the new season's Australian Open, defending champion Sabalenka participated in the WTA500 Brisbane Station as a warm-up event. She ultimately achieved an impressive five consecutive victories and won her first title of the new season in a dominant fashion.
On the afternoon of January 5th, Beijing time, the final match of the WTA500 Brisbane Station began, featuring Sabalenka against Kudryavtseva. The latter was only a qualifying player ranked 107th in the world, far behind Sabalenka who held the top spot. Their abilities were not on the same level.
However, Kudryavtseva demonstrated a certain level of skill by eliminating opponents from the qualifying rounds all the way to the finals, which indeed posed some challenges for Sabalenka.
In the first set, Sabalenka broke serve once while Kudryavtseva broke twice, especially in the 10th game when she broke Sabalenka's serve to win the set 6-4. In the second set, Sabalenka made timely adjustments to her game, breaking serve in the 5th and 9th games and holding serve throughout, leveling the score at 6-3.
In the decisive third set, Sabalenka played increasingly aggressively, breaking serve in the 2nd and 6th games to establish a continuous advantage of 5-1. With the momentum clearly in her favor, Kudryavtseva was unable to resist, eventually losing the match 1-2 to Sabalenka and missing out on the championship.
Thus, Sabalenka secured her first title of the new season with a perfect record of five wins, marking her 18th career tour championship and her 16th hardcourt title.
Winning a WTA500-level championship provided a strong start to the new season for Sabalenka, who also achieved a resounding victory. She will now enter the preparation period for the Australian Open, aiming to defend her title after winning the women's singles championship consecutively in 2023 and 2024.
Domestic fans are well aware that Sabalenka is Zheng Qinwen's number one nemesis. Since their first encounter in 2023, Sabalenka has won all five matches against Zheng, including last year's Australian Open final.
In the new season, Sabalenka has already shown a very hot form, with the Brisbane Station serving as a warm-up event. On the contrary, Zheng Qinwen withdrew from the United Cup and did not sign up for any other events, heading straight to the Australian Open for her first event of the new season. It remains uncertain how her competitive state will be. If she were to meet Sabalenka again at the Australian Open, it seems that Zheng still cannot overcome her, at least for the time being.