Aryna Sabalenka Reaches Sixth Straight US Open Quarter-Final
Aryna Sabalenka is starting to look at home in Serena Williams’ old neighbourhood.
Under the lights and under fire from a partisan crowd, the two-time defending champion rode out Taylor Townsend’s early storm and then simply suffocated the American’s resistance, winning 6-4 6-3 to reach a sixth straight US Open quarter-final and keep her three‑year unbeaten run in New York alive.
That’s 18 wins in a row at Flushing Meadows. Six consecutive quarter-finals. And now, inevitably, the Serena comparisons.
Williams was the last woman to make six straight singles quarter-finals here, back in 2016. She was also the last to win three US Open titles on the bounce. Sabalenka is now three matches from drawing level with that particular piece of history.
A wild start, then a ruthless response
This was no procession. For a set and a half, it was chaos.
The match opened with five consecutive breaks of serve, a jumble of fierce returns and nervy holds as both players swung freely and refused to blink first. Townsend, a doubles specialist with a flair for theatre, walked on court draped in a long, black-feathered outfit and then backed it up with bold, front-foot tennis, rushing the net and dragging Sabalenka into uncomfortable positions.
The crowd loved it. Sabalenka knew they would.
With the noise rising, Townsend forced the top seed to serve out the first set twice, and when the American surged 3-1 ahead in the second, the upset murmur around the stadium turned into a roar.
That was the trigger.
Sabalenka, who has not always kept her cool in this kind of cauldron, locked in. Aware she needs the title to have any chance of holding on to the world No.1 ranking, she broke back to love, then tightened the screws with a champion’s clarity. From 1-3 down, she rattled off five games in a row, dropping just five points in that closing stretch and extinguishing Townsend’s challenge in 75 minutes.
“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 generous about her opponent too.
“What an incredible player she is, approaching the net, a great returner, moving well, very brave,” she said of Townsend. “You can see how focused she was. It was really challenging playing her, especially here.”
The crowd, so clearly on the American’s side, did not cross the line, and Sabalenka made a point of acknowledging it.
“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 queen of Queens
Sabalenka has not missed the semi-finals in New York since 2020. On these courts, she plays with a familiarity that borders on inevitability, her heavy first strike game perfectly tuned to the hard courts and the atmosphere.
Yet there is pressure wrapped inside the dominance. She left Wimbledon with a fourth-round exit and is still chasing her first major title of the season. For a player who has collected four Slams and set new standards for consistency, a year without a big trophy would sting.
That edge is visible in her body language. There are fewer wild outbursts now, more controlled aggression. When the second set threatened to unravel, she didn’t spiral; she reset, shortened the points, and trusted the weight of her shots to do the talking.
Noskova survives a marathon to set blockbuster clash
Waiting in the quarter-finals is Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, who needed every ounce of nerve and six match points to scrape past Marta Kostyuk 7-5 5-7 6-4 in a draining, two-and-a-half-hour contest.
Noskova, the sixth seed, looked home and dry more than once. She served for the match in the second set and held two match points at 5-3, only for Kostyuk to claw her way back and steal the set, flipping the mood and forcing a decider.
The final set became a test of emotional stamina as much as tennis. The breaks of serve came in waves, both players straining to hold, both aware that one loose game could decide it. Once again Noskova edged ahead 5-3. Once again, closing proved a torment.
She saw two more match points slip away as errors crept in and Kostyuk refused to fold. A fifth chance vanished after the Ukrainian had even held a break point herself. Only on the sixth, over an hour after her first opportunity, did Noskova finally collapse to her haunches in relief.
“I am more than relieved, this match was so tough, emotionally a bit more than physically,” the 21-year-old 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.”
Restart she did, though, and now she walks straight into the biggest hard-court test the women’s game can currently offer: Sabalenka at the US Open.
One player clinging to a perfect three-year record in New York. The other fresh from conquering Wimbledon and surviving a psychological epic. Only one of them will keep their season’s grand ambition fully intact.
