Zhang Shuai returns to the Australian Open doubles final after seven years—could her first Grand Slam title of the new season be on the horizon?

When Zhang Shuai and Mertens clinched the match win and hugged in celebration, the live stream quickly erupted into a joyful atmosphere. The 37-year-old Chinese tennis star met expectations by leading Chinese tennis to the doubles final.

Since the start of the new season, Zhang Shuai has remained one of the most prominent Chinese players. Besides entering the Brisbane and Adelaide 500 tournaments solo, earning praise for her courage against many top players, she also headed to Melbourne with the Adelaide 500 doubles title in hand, signaling her strong ambition to claim a Grand Slam doubles championship this season.

Looking back at Zhang Shuai’s path to the Australian Open doubles final, the second-round match against the young duo Mboko and Jovic was the toughest and most thrilling. Without the extensive major tournament experience of Zhang and Mertens, and their strong composure under pressure to repeatedly escape danger, winning a hard-fought three-set match would have been very difficult.

Having overcome that challenge, Zhang and Mertens seemed unstoppable on court, displaying increasingly dominant performances and benefiting from good fortune. For instance, one of the toughest pairs in their section, Barty and Errani, were unexpectedly upset by other competitors, removing a significant obstacle for them.

In the semifinals against the multinational team of Chihara Ena and Zvonareva, many believed it would be difficult for them to stop Zhang’s team from reaching the final, mainly due to the clear gap in strength.

Especially after Zhang and Mertens comfortably took the first set 6-3, fans and online viewers were convinced that their advancement to the final was inevitable.

And indeed, that was the case!

If in the first set Chihara Ena and Zvonareva managed to rally from 1-5 down to win two games, then in the second set, when Zhang and Mertens surged to a 5-0 lead—the peak moment of the match—it completely dashed any hopes they had left.

Even though Chihara Ena and Zvonareva fought hard to avoid a shutout by narrowing the score to 2-5, seemingly causing some trouble for Zhang’s team, fans watching the live stream firmly believed the final result would not change and were already ready to pop champagne in celebration of Zhang and Mertens.

When Zhang’s team sealed the match victory at 6-2, the first thing fans and viewers exclaimed was: “Sister Shuai’s goal of winning a Grand Slam this season is about to come true.”

With the top-seeded pair Townsend and Siniakova, as well as the third seeds Ostapenko and Hsieh Su-wei, already eliminated, plus the early exit of the second seeds Barty and Errani, Zhang and Mertens are now widely regarded as the top favorites to win the title, clearly stronger than their opponents.

Upon seeing that Zhang and Mertens’ final opponents would be Danilina and Krunic, some fans confidently declared, “Sister Shuai’s Grand Slam doubles title is basically secured.”

Although Danilina and Krunic are seeded seventh in the tournament, their level is simply not on par with Zhang and Mertens.

One fan even cited examples to illustrate this: Zhang has beaten Krunic three times out of four encounters and defeated Danilina six times in nine matches; Mertens holds a perfect record against Krunic and Danilina, winning all four and three matches respectively.

Combined with Zhang and Mertens’ extensive experience and excellent teamwork, as long as they don’t falter in the final, their chances of claiming the doubles championship are very high.

Melbourne has never failed Zhang Shuai. Ten years ago, when she was close to retiring after many losses, this city witnessed her redemption and repeatedly saw her become a pride of Chinese tennis. Now, after seven years, Zhang has once again reached the doubles final here, carrying a different kind of significance behind her journey.

In 2019, Zhang partnered with Stosur to win the Australian Open doubles title. This time, many believe she can relive that glorious moment from seven years ago and eagerly want to witness how Zhang achieves her declared goal of winning a Grand Slam doubles championship this season, cheering wildly for her then!(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Moon River Starry Sky)