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Aryna Sabalenka's perfect Australian Open could be bad news for her trainer, while Qinwen Zheng locks in her top-10 debut and Matt Ebden wins something for the Aussies.
Here are five quick hits from Melbourne Park.
1. Sabalenka stays perfect
Winning a grand slam is hard, but winning one without dropping a set is the sort of thing reserved for the best of the best.
Ash Barty did it during her run to the 2022 title, and Aryna Sabalenka pulled it off with apparent ease at this year's Australian Open.
Her longest match was a one-hour-and-42-minute effort in the semifinal against Coco Gauff, with the 7-6(7/2), 6-4 win the only time any opponent took four games off her in a set.
Outside that contest, opponents took just 12 games off her, averaging 1.75 per set.
No other match eclipsed the 76 minutes she spent on court in the final, with her shortest match a 6-0, 6-0 drubbing of 28th seed Lesia Tsurenko that lasted just 52 minutes.
And that wasn't even her only win under an hour at the tournament, beating qualifier Ella Seidel 6-0, 6-1 in just 53 minutes in the first round.
2. Signed, sealed, delivered
Athletes are a superstitious lot and huge fans of correlation equalling causation.
Whether it's putting on socks a certain way or eating a particular meal the day of a match, if it happened once before a win, that's a career's worth of neuroses locked in.
In that case, Aryna Sabalenka's trainer might want to invest in some easy-clean markers. Or hair plugs.
Sabalenka made a habit of signing Jason Stacy's bald bonce before every match and, if you believe in that sort of woo-woo stuff, it's worked a treat.
"They're trying to say I've got to get a tattooo my head. I'm like, 'I don't know about that'," Stacy said after the final.
"Every tournament we always find something we're doing and we just kind of go with that.
"On match days it's just an autograph. Then she writes random things on my ear. So today was my name in case I get lost, so I remember my name."
The good news for Stacy is Sabalenka also suggested writing his Instagram handle on there next time, so at least he can get some followers out of it.
3. No win, but Qinwen's in the top 10
Qinwen Zheng is coming.
At 21 years old, the Chinese is rising rapidly with two titles and a US Open quarterfinal under her belt in the back half of 2023.
In that brief period she's beaten top-10 players Markéta Vondroušová, Barbora Krejčíková, Jeļena Ostapenko, Maria Sakkari and Ons Jabeur, as well as tennis legend Venus Williams.
Now she has her first major final under her belt, and while it didn't go to plan, most people would be stunned if it was her last.
Getting crushed on such a big stage was clearly a bittersweet moment for Zheng, who said she had "complicated" feelings after two brilliant weeks ended in one brutal hour.
But on Monday morning she will wake up to the news that she's the newest member of the WTA top 10, jumping eight places from 15 to seven.
Oh, and she also won $1.725 million.
4. Ebden maintains men's doubles dominance
After Emerson Jones missed out in the girls' final, Matt Ebden was Australia's last hope to have a local on top of the podium at this year's Australian Open.
He lined up in the men's doubles final alongside 43-year-old Rohan Bopanna, aiming to do something neither had done before.
Bopanna and Ebden, who will trade the doubles number one ranking this year, were near enough to perfect against Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori.
By hoisting the trophy alongside his new partner, Ebden extended a run of locals winning the men's doubles at the Australian Open.
In 2022, Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis beat Ebden and Max Purcell to the title in an all-Australian final, with Aussie pair Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler winning last year's crown.
It continues a 13-year trend of at least one local winning a title at the Australian Open, with 2011 the last time no-one flew the flag across singles, doubles, wheelchair and juniors.
5. What matches are on today?
Are two weeks of gripping tennis, the Australian Open has two matches left.
Two titles will be decided on the final day of play, the women's doubles and the men's singles.
Here is the order of play for day 15:
- Women's doubles: Lyudmyla Kichenok/Jelena Ostapenko (11) vs Su-Wei Hsieh/Elise Mertens (2) from 3pm AEDT
- Men's singles: Jannik Sinner (ITA - 4) vs Daniil Medvedev (RUS - 3) from 7:30pm AEDT
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