Sabalenka survives major test against Noskova and stays in the race for a third consecutive US Open
Aryna Sabalenka reached the US Open semifinals after one of her toughest matches at this year's tournament in New York. The top seed and two-time defending champion defeated reigning Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova on September 8 by 7:6(1), 3:6, 7:6(7), winning the decisive third-set tie-break 10:7. According to the official WTA report, the match at Arthur Ashe Stadium lasted two hours and 22 minutes, and Sabalenka came back from a 2:4 deficit in the third set. With the victory, she reached her sixth consecutive US Open semifinal and her 15th Grand Slam semifinal overall. At the same time, she extended her winning streak at Flushing Meadows to 18 matches and remained two victories away from a third consecutive title in New York.
Noskova recovered after a difficult start
The start of the quarterfinal gave little indication of how dramatically the match would unfold. The WTA states that Noskova lost the first seven points and the first three games, while Sabalenka quickly took the initiative with aggressive baseline shots and pressure on her opponent's second serve. The world No. 1 also had two opportunities for a double break and a 5:1 lead, but the 21-year-old Czech managed to stabilize, primarily thanks to her serve. When Sabalenka served for the first set at 5:4, Noskova began returning serves deeper and managed to earn the break back. The set therefore went to a tie-break, but Noskova lost her rhythm there, while Sabalenka put together a run of more secure points to convincingly win the breaker 7:1. It was an important end to the set for the defending champion because she had previously missed the opportunity to close out the set on her own serve.
Noskova, however, did not allow the lost tie-break to determine the rest of the match. In the second set, she saved two break points in the opening game and then another one before taking a 3:2 lead. According to the WTA analysis, the Czech then began using a wider range of solutions: alongside powerful opening shots, she mixed in drop shots, attacks toward the net and changes of direction that took away Sabalenka's preparation time. The key moment came in the sixth game, when Sabalenka lost serve with a double fault and fell behind 2:4. Noskova protected the advantage until the end of the set and converted her fourth set point, closing the set with an ace for 6:3. It was the first set Sabalenka had lost at the 2026 US Open after going through the previous rounds without dropping a set.
Third-set comeback after falling behind 2:4
Sabalenka's biggest test came in the deciding set. Noskova raised the quality of her serving, combined power with changes of pace and at one point won ten consecutive points on her own serve, according to the WTA. At 2:2, Sabalenka made two double faults in the same game and found herself at 0:40, after which she lost serve and Noskova then moved ahead 4:2. The Belarusian showed frustration during that period, but afterward she significantly reduced her number of errors and began constructing points more patiently. The break back came at 4:4, after several poorly chosen decisions by Noskova, and the end of the set turned into a duel in which neither player allowed another loss of serve. The decision therefore came in an extended tie-break played to ten points.
Noskova also took the first advantage in that finale and went ahead 2:0, but she could not maintain the initiative. Two forehand errors and a double fault helped Sabalenka turn the breaker around, while the top seed found her best serve precisely at the most important moments. The WTA records that Noskova was unable to return four of Sabalenka's final five serves into the court. The match ended with a particularly striking play: on her first match point, Sabalenka hit an ace out wide on a second serve and thereby closed the tie-break 10:7. After the match, she said that at one point in the third set she thought the match was practically lost, and that feeling, in her words, helped her relax and attack more boldly. Instead of playing the closing stages cautiously, she decided to take risks and was rewarded with a place among the final four.
Noskova served 18 aces and hit more winners
The statistics further show how demanding the quarterfinal was for the defending champion. According to WTA data, Noskova finished the match with 46 winners, including as many as 18 aces, while Sabalenka had 42 winners and 12 aces. The Czech also saved seven of nine break points, which made it considerably harder for Sabalenka to fight back in games on her opponent's serve. Such a performance fits the style of play with which Noskova made the biggest breakthrough of her career during 2026: a powerful serve, taking the ball early and a willingness to quickly take control of the rally after the first shot. Although she lost, she again showed that her Wimbledon result was not an isolated success. Sabalenka, on the other hand, secured the victory above all through better management of the key moments, especially after being a break down in the third set.
For Noskova, the defeat ended a run of 11 consecutive Grand Slam victories that began during her path to her first major title at Wimbledon and continued through the first four rounds of the US Open. In New York, before Sabalenka, she defeated Katie Volynets, Lanlana Tararudee, Ann Li and Marta Kostyuk, while the round of 16 against Kostyuk was another three-set test. The official US Open reported that Noskova won that match 7:5, 5:7, 6:4, after having to withstand additional pressure and several missed match points in the closing stages. In the quarterfinal against Sabalenka, she was again close to a major comeback, but this time she was unable to finish the job after taking the lead in the deciding set. Nevertheless, her performance in New York confirms a season in which, according to the WTA, she reached a career-high ranking and established herself among the leading players in world tennis.
Sabalenka continues the run that began with the 2024 title
Reaching the semifinal is especially important because of Sabalenka's consistency at the US Open. The tournament's official history confirms that in the 2024 final she defeated Jessica Pegula 7:5, 7:5, while in 2025 she defended the title by beating Amanda Anisimova 6:3, 7:6(3). In doing so, she built a run in New York that grew to 18 consecutive victories after the quarterfinal against Noskova. She also reached at least the semifinals for the sixth consecutive year, showing how well the hard-court conditions at Flushing Meadows suit her. If she were to win a third consecutive title in 2026, she would become the first player since Serena Williams to win three straight US Open trophies. Williams, according to the tournament's official records, won the titles in 2012, 2013 and 2014, so that run remains the most recent of its kind in women's singles.
Sabalenka did not arrive in New York without questions about her form. The WTA states that her victory over Noskova was her first against a Top 10 player since the Miami final in March, when she defeated Coco Gauff, and her sixth such victory overall in 2026. It was also her first three-set Grand Slam victory of the season, after she lost to Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final and to Diana Shnaider in the Roland Garros quarterfinals. She did not reach the closing stages at Wimbledon, so the US Open took on additional importance as the final opportunity of the season for another Grand Slam title. Sabalenka had already won Brisbane, Indian Wells and Miami in 2026, according to data from her official WTA profile, but her results at the majors after the start of the season had not been at the level she had become accustomed to in previous years. Precisely because of that, the manner in which she survived the quarterfinal against Noskova carries additional weight ahead of the final stages of the tournament.
The No. 1 spot in the WTA rankings is also at stake
Along with defending the title, Sabalenka is also defending the world No. 1 ranking in New York. According to the WTA calculation published before the tournament, her situation is not entirely in her own hands: to remain No. 1 she must win the US Open, but at the same time Elena Rybakina must lose before the semifinals. Rybakina will play Qinwen Zheng in the quarterfinals, and by reaching the final four she would secure the No. 1 ranking regardless of the other results. Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff also remain in the battle for the top spot heading into the closing stages of the tournament, and they too need the title and a Rybakina defeat before the semifinals in order to reach No. 1 for the first time. Sabalenka's victory over Noskova therefore preserved her possibility of defending the leading position, but the final outcome will also depend on the results in the other half of the draw. The WTA stated that if Sabalenka manages to remain at the top after the US Open, she would reach 100 consecutive weeks as the world's No. 1 player.
Pegula or Navarro awaits in the semifinal
Sabalenka's next opponent will be the winner of the all-American quarterfinal between third seed Jessica Pegula and 26th seed Emma Navarro. According to the US Open schedule, that match is set for the night session in New York, after which the final semifinal pairing in the top half of the draw will be known. The WTA points out that a possible meeting with Pegula would bring a new chapter in an already well-known rivalry, and Sabalenka defeated the American at the US Open in each of the previous two years. In 2024 she beat her in the final, while in 2025 they met in the semifinal before Sabalenka's second consecutive title. Navarro presents a different tactical challenge, relying more on movement, consistency in rallies and changes of pace, so the defending champion will have to prepare for two different scenarios ahead of the semifinal.
Most important for Sabalenka, however, is that against Noskova she came through a situation in which her best tennis was not constantly available. In the first four rounds of the US Open she did not lose a set: Camila Osorio fell 6:2, 6:4, Polina Iatcenko 6:1, 6:1, Kamilla Rakhimova 6:3, 6:4, and Taylor Townsend 6:4, 6:3. Noskova was the first to force her into a deciding set and the first to hold a genuine scoreboard advantage in the closing stages. Sabalenka answered that challenge by coming back from 2:4 and producing a finish in which her serve became her strongest weapon. Such a victory does not guarantee the title, but it allows her to enter the semifinal with confirmation that she can also win a match in which control shifts from one side of the net to the other. In New York, she now remains in the race for a third consecutive trophy, a historic run and, depending on Rybakina's result, continued time at the top of the WTA rankings.
Sources:
- WTA – detailed report on the Sabalenka – Noskova quarterfinal, match progression, statistics, statements and historical data (link)
- US Open – official confirmation of the quarterfinal result and match data from Arthur Ashe Stadium (link)
- WTA – official scenarios for the world No. 1 ranking during the 2026 US Open (link)
- US Open – report on Linda Noskova's victory over Marta Kostyuk in the round of 16 (link)
- US Open – official list of women's singles champions and title history in New York (link)
- WTA – official Aryna Sabalenka profile with an overview of titles and results in the 2026 season (link)