Aryna Sabalenka Reaches Sixth Consecutive US Open Quarter-Final
Aryna Sabalenka is starting to turn Flushing Meadows into her own private fortress.
The two-time defending champion moved into a sixth straight US Open quarter-final on Sunday night, grinding down an inspired Taylor Townsend 6-4 6-3 in a match that felt far trickier than the score suggests. Ten breaks of serve, a partisan crowd, a 3-1 deficit in the second set – and still, the top seed walked off with a 75-minute win and another slice of history.
Sabalenka chases Serena’s shadow
With this victory, Sabalenka stretched her winning streak in New York to 18 matches, a run that spans her title doubles in 2024 and 2025 and now edges into a third campaign. At 28, she has become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach six consecutive US Open singles quarter-finals. She is also now three wins away from matching Williams as the last player to lift three straight titles in Queens.
The numbers are starting to sound familiar. The aura is, too.
This was not one of those nights when everything clicks and the scoreboard races away. This required nerve. Restraint. A refusal to panic when the match tried to slip from her grasp.
"I was just trying to stay focused on myself, not only point by point but ball by ball," Sabalenka said. "I'm happy I was able to turn around the second set, I think it was a key moment."
She was right. That turn came quickly and decisively.
Chaos, then control
The opening stages were pure chaos. The first five games all went against serve as both players tore into returns, Sabalenka trying to impose her usual weight of shot, Townsend knifing and redirecting the pace with the variety that has made her such a dangerous doubles force.
Townsend, who strode onto court in a long, black-feathered outfit that matched the sense of occasion, kept Sabalenka guessing. She mixed in net rushes, sharp angles, and clever use of the crowd, who roared for the American at every opportunity.
Sabalenka eventually steadied first, holding for 4-2 and leaning on her power to close out the set on her second attempt. It looked like she had weathered the worst of it.
Townsend had other ideas. She broke early in the second, jumped out to 3-1, and for a few games the stadium felt like it might tilt her way. Sabalenka’s forehand flared wide, the errors crept in, and the noise swelled.
Then the top seed snapped back.
Aware she needs the title to have any chance of keeping the world No. 1 ranking, Sabalenka broke back to love, a brutal, four-point statement that reset the tone. From 1-3 down, she reeled off five straight games, dropping just five points in that closing surge. The second set, once precarious, ended in a sprint.
"What an incredible player she is," Sabalenka said of Townsend. "Approaching the net, a great returner, moving well, very brave. You can see how focused she was. It was really challenging playing her, especially here."
The crowd had backed the American, as expected, but Sabalenka made a point of acknowledging their role.
"Thank you so much for being so respectful to me. I knew coming into this match that you guys would be on her side, but you were sometimes cheering for me and I really appreciate that."
A specialist in New York pressure
Sabalenka’s relationship with these courts has become increasingly defined by big occasions and bigger responses. She has not missed the semi-finals at the US Open since 2020. The surface suits her, yes, but so does the stage. The noise, the scrutiny, the sense that everything matters a little more here.
That is what makes this season’s storyline intriguing. After a fourth-round exit at Wimbledon, she arrives in the second half of the year still chasing her first major of 2026. She has not gone a full season without a Slam since 2022. The standard she has set leaves no room for quiet years.
This win, carved out against an opponent who refused to play by the usual rhythm and a crowd that leaned heavily the other way, felt like the kind of test champions tend to pass.
Next comes a different one.
Noskova survives a rollercoaster
Waiting in the quarter-finals is Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, the sixth seed, who needed six match points and every ounce of composure to subdue Marta Kostyuk 7-5 5-7 6-4 in a draining, two-and-a-half-hour contest.
Noskova, 21, had the match in her hands more than once. She served for it in the second set at 5-3, held two match points, and watched Kostyuk claw her way back to steal the set and force a decider. The Czech regrouped, built another 5-3 lead in the third, then saw more chances slip away as Kostyuk pushed her to deuce and saved yet another match point.
Only on the sixth did Noskova finally close the door, collapsing into a crouch on the court, the relief written all over her.
"I am more than relieved, this match was so tough, emotionally a bit more than physically," she said. "Today was very close, it could have ended both ways. With all the chances I had in the second set, it was tough to still kind of restart."
She did restart, and that resilience will be essential against Sabalenka.
One player is building a dynasty in New York. The other has already conquered Wimbledon and just survived one of the most mentally taxing battles of the tournament.
Sabalenka’s fortress now faces a fresh challenger. The question is simple: can anyone break her hold on these hard courts before history catches up with Serena Williams?
