Earlier in the women's doubles final, Zhang combined with Belgium's Elise Mertens to beat seventh seeds Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic 7-6 (4), 6-4 in one hour and 48 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.

It is the first major title for the pairing of Mertens and Zhang, who shared a successful reunion having not played together since a runners-up finish at Wimbledon 2022.

Zhang, a former No 2 ranked doubles player, had previously won the 2019 Australian Open and the 2021 US Open alongside Australian Samantha Stosur.

"Very special. We show every team how good we are," Zhang said. "We played so many great teams."

It was Mertens' sixth major title and third in Melbourne as she ascends to the No 1 doubles ranking.

"I knew if we would win the semis, that I would be number one again, so that was definitely a motivation to do well," Mertens said.

"Of course I was not really thinking about the spot. I was thinking about this trophy in the first place, but it does mean a lot."

It was a disappointment for Danilina and Krunic, who were runners-up at last year's French Open.

The Kazakh-Serb pairing made a fast start to lead 3-0 only to be reeled in by Zhang and Mertens, who shook off the cobwebs but could not convert two set points in the 12th game.

They regrouped to dominate the tiebreak and the momentum spilled over in the second set, where they powered to a 5-0 lead.

But nerves set in and they could not convert two match points in the eighth game before Zhang clinched the title with a backhand winner and she shared an embrace with Mertens.

In the men's doubles final, sixth-seeded Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski spoiled the home party by beating Australian wildcards Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans 7-6 (4), 6-4.

In the women's wheelchair final, China's Li Xiaohui thrashed Diede De Groot 6-1, 6-2.

The 15-day tournament concludes on Sunday with the men's singles final between top seed Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, who is seeking a record 25th grand slam triumph.