Aryna Sabalenka Survives Thrilling Quarterfinal Against Noskova
Aryna Sabalenka had already looked untouchable in New York this fortnight. On Tuesday night, she had to look human first.
Dragged to the edge by Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, the world No.1 clawed her way back from a break down in the deciding set to win a knife-edge quarterfinal 7-6(7-1), 3-6, 7-6(10-7) and reach the US Open semifinals for the sixth year in a row.
For a player who had cruised through the draw without losing a set, this was something else entirely. This was survival.
Noskova’s serve turns the screw
Sabalenka came in as the two-time defending champion, riding a streak of 20 wins in her last 21 matches at Flushing Meadows. Noskova, the sixth seed from the Czech Republic, walked into Arthur Ashe Stadium with a different kind of weapon: a first serve that detonated off the strings.
She finished with 18 aces and saved seven of nine break points. Time and again, Sabalenka created daylight, only to see it slammed shut by a bomb out wide or a flat dart up the T.
Early on, though, the script seemed familiar. Sabalenka broke in the second game, ripping a forehand into the corner so cleanly that Noskova didn’t even move. The Belarusian looked in command, stepping inside the baseline, bullying rallies, dictating with that heavy forehand.
Noskova refused to back off. In the ninth game, she answered with a barrage of baseline power of her own, breaking back and forcing Sabalenka to feel the match for the first time this tournament.
The tiebreak, however, belonged to the No.1. Sabalenka, who set a record earlier this year with 21 straight tiebreak wins at the majors, snapped back into her most ruthless mode. She raced through the first six points, suffocating Noskova with depth and pace, and locked up the opening set 7-6(7-1).
Momentum swings as Sabalenka’s firepower dips
Any thought that Noskova might fade under the lights vanished in the second set.
Sabalenka’s rhythm cracked. The first serve loosened, the forehand misfired, and the confidence that had carried her through the first week began to flicker. Noskova held firm, leaning on her serve, playing with clean, uncomplicated aggression.
At 3-2, the pressure flipped. Sabalenka double-faulted to hand the Czech a 4-2 lead and screamed in frustration, the sound echoing around Ashe. Noskova didn’t blink. She rode that break all the way to the set, 6-3, and suddenly the defending champion was in a real fight.
Noskova smelled opportunity. She started the third set like a player who believed she belonged in the last four of a major, not just visiting. Sabalenka, by contrast, looked rattled. Another flurry of errors. Another pair of double faults. Another break.
When Noskova moved ahead 4-2 in the decider, the upset felt close enough to touch.
Sabalenka admitted as much afterward, saying she thought, “That’s it, the match is over,” as she stared at the deficit. That thought, strangely, freed her.
Champion’s response under the lights
With Noskova serving for a stranglehold on the match, Sabalenka finally steadied. She cut down the errors, went after her returns, and stopped playing not to miss. The swings grew looser, the footwork sharper. The world No.1 began to look like herself again.
The break back came in the eighth game, a surge that shifted the mood inside the stadium. Noskova, who had looked so composed, now had to serve and hit her spots with the crowd roaring for the champion’s escape.
Sabalenka dragged the contest into another tiebreak, a place where she has built a reputation as one of the sport’s most cold-blooded closers.
Once more, she owned the moment.
The decisive breaker was tense, but Sabalenka carried herself like a player who had been here countless times before. She attacked second serves, stepped into the court, and refused to let Noskova dictate. At 9-7, with the match finally in her grip, she finished it the way great hard-court champions do at Flushing Meadows: with an ace.
A roar, a fist pump, and a long exhale. Then the acknowledgment. “What a battle. What an incredible player she is. I’m speechless right now because I was pushing myself to the limit this match,” Sabalenka said, crediting the crowd for helping drag her over the line.
Chasing Serena’s shadow
This run to the semifinals is not just another deep week in New York. By reaching the last four for the sixth consecutive year, Sabalenka has matched Serena Williams’ streak from 2011 to 2016, a span in which Serena collected three of her six US Open titles.
Sabalenka is now chasing a third straight crown of her own at Flushing Meadows, and her record here over the past few seasons – 21 wins in her last 22 matches at this tournament – has the feel of something era-defining.
The path only gets tougher from here. Next up is the winner of the all-American showdown between third seed Jessica Pegula and 26th seed Emma Navarro, a semifinal that will load the stadium with noise and narrative.
Sabalenka has shown she can crush opponents when she’s cruising. On this night, she showed something more valuable in a champion: when the match felt gone, she found a way to rip it back.
