Sabalenka Survives Noskova in Three Tiebreak-Heavy Sets, Reaches Sixth Straight US Open Semifinal

Aryna Sabalenka needed a lot more than her earlier rounds suggested she would. On Tuesday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the two-time defending champion trailed 4-2 in the third set and fell behind 2-0 in the match tiebreak before closing out Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova 7-6(7-1), 3-6, 7-6(10-7) in a quarterfinal that ran just under two and a half hours, according to the BBC.

Sabalenka's victory marks her 19th straight win at Flushing Meadows, a streak dating to her 2023 final loss to Coco Gauff. The victory also puts her into a sixth consecutive US Open semifinal, matching a run only Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams and Serena Williams have managed in the Open Era, according to Tennis Temple. She's the first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach that many straight semifinals in New York, per the BBC.

The match itself was a genuine fight. Sabalenka broke early and raced to a 5-2 lead in the first set before getting broken back as she served it out, eventually taking the tiebreak 7-1. Noskova then flipped the script, breaking for a 4-2 lead in the second set and closing it out 6-3 behind an ace, handing Sabalenka her first dropped set of the tournament.

The third set turned into the kind of match Sabalenka has occasionally lost this year. Noskova broke for a 4-2 lead, and Sabalenka looked, in her own words afterward, like the match was slipping away. "I honestly thought that that's it, the match is over," Sabalenka said, according to the BBC, "but probably that's what helped me to feel loose and go after my shots."

She won three straight games to level at 4-4, and the set went to a decisive tiebreak. Noskova jumped ahead 2-0 before Sabalenka reeled off enough points to close it out 10-7, finishing with a second-serve ace. Sportsnet reported Noskova actually out-hit her across the match, 46 winners to 42 and 18 aces to 12, underlining how close the contest really was.

Officials closed the Ashe roof while Noskova served at 4-5 in the third set to adjust for changing shadows, a detail reported by Forbes and Bitcoin Ethereum News.

Noskova's run ends short of history

Noskova, the No. 6 seed and reigning Wimbledon champion, had already survived a five-match-point escape against Marta Kostyuk in the fourth round, according to India Today. A win over Sabalenka would have made her the first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 to follow a grass-court major with a US Open final four run. She fell just short, but leaves New York with her best US Open result, having reached only one prior major quarterfinal, at the 2024 Australian Open.

Standings implications

Sabalenka has held the world No. 1 ranking for 99 consecutive weeks, according to Sportsnet. That streak is now in Elena Rybakina's hands. If Rybakina beats Zheng Qinwen in Wednesday's quarterfinal to reach the semifinals, she takes over No. 1 regardless of how Sabalenka finishes the tournament. If Rybakina loses, Sabalenka can hold the top spot by winning the title.

Four women remain mathematically alive for the year-end No. 1 ranking, per Forbes: Rybakina, Sabalenka, and Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff.

Next up

Sabalenka will face either Pegula, against whom she leads their head-to-head 9-4, or 26th-seeded Emma Navarro, against whom she's 2-1, in Thursday's semifinal. That quarterfinal between Pegula and Navarro had not concluded as of Tuesday.

On the men's side, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz was scheduled to face No. 8 seed Ben Shelton in one quarterfinal Tuesday, while No. 11 Frances Tiafoe met fellow American Alex Michelsen in the other, according to Sportsnet.

Sabalenka has been open about the rocky stretch that preceded this run, telling reporters earlier in the tournament she'd been "dealing with several things" during a five-month stretch in which she reached only one WTA semifinal outside the majors. Whether that turbulence stays behind her gets tested Thursday against two Americans who have combined for 11 prior meetings with her.