For Aryna Sabalenka, this quarterfinal was less about style than survival. She did not glide through Linda Noskova so much as endure her, and that difference matters in a tournament where one tight night can change the entire picture. Sabalenka’s 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 (10-7) win on Tuesday kept her bid for a third straight U.S. Open title alive and preserved her chance to stay at No. 1.
The match fit the stakes. Sabalenka had entered New York without dropping a set, even after an uneven run that saw her exit in the fourth round in Toronto and Cincinnati and at that same stage at Wimbledon. This was the first time at Flushing Meadows that she was really pushed into the kind of late-match tension that can expose a favorite’s nerves. Noskova, who had already won her first major title at the All England Club, made that test real.
Sabalenka said afterward that it was “what a battle” and called Noskova “an incredible player,” adding that she pushed herself “to the limit” in the third set. That sounds exactly right. The deciding set was not clean or comfortable, and Sabalenka admitted she briefly thought the match was gone before that reset her mind and let her swing more freely. In other words, the margin was not just physical. It was psychological too.
Why Sabalenka got through
The numbers explain why this felt like a coin flip. Sabalenka finished with 46 winners to Noskova’s 42 and hit 18 aces to Noskova’s 12, which shows how much first-strike tennis defined the match. When the scoreboard tightens that much, serve becomes more than an opening shot; it becomes the difference between controlling the rally and defending it. Sabalenka also said Noskova was serving better than her late in the third set, a warning sign that the defending champion was being pulled into unfamiliar territory.
Still, Sabalenka found enough in the biggest moments. She said breaking Noskova at 3-4 in the third set gave her confidence that she could still win, and then she closed the match in the tiebreak. That is the kind of response champions are supposed to produce, even when the pattern of the match is uncomfortable. It does not mean the performance was dominant. It does mean she handled the most important points.
What it means next
The immediate reward is a semifinal on Thursday against either Jessica Pegula or Emma Navarro. The larger point is that Sabalenka remains alive in the exact race she needed to survive: a title defense that also carries ranking consequences. Since she was beaten by Coco Gauff in the 2023 final and had gone out in the second round here in 2020, this run has a very different feel. It is not simply a recovery from one bad result. It is a chance to extend a run that now spans a sixth straight year of U.S. Open relevance.
That is why this win matters beyond the round itself. Sabalenka still has the numbers of a contender, but this match showed how little room there is between control and trouble when the opponents can serve and strike back as Noskova did. For now, though, the defending champion moves on. The title streak is still intact, and so is the No. 1 chase.
Frances Tiafoe also advanced in the men’s quarterfinals, beating Alex Michelsen.
