US Open 2026 results: Aryna Sabalenka fights back against Linda Noskova to keep title defence alive
Sabalenka began the match in cruise control, breaking in sixth seed Noskova’s opening service game and racing into a 5-2 lead, before being broken as she served for the set.
Although she dominated the subsequent tie-break, the double fault she hit in her last service game – one of four in the match – would prove a feature of her performance, as would her failure to convert break points.
She wasted three early in the second set before conceding a break in the sixth game with a double fault at 30-40 as Noskova forced a decider.
After hitting two more double faults to be broken for a third time, she looked down and out after Noskova held to love for a 4-2 lead, but won the next three games to turn the match around.
She then won the tie-break – for a 10th successive time at the US Open, in a run dating back to 2021 – to complete her comeback, sealing the victory with a nerveless second-serve ace.
This was only Sabalenka’s second quarter-final victory since March, with the top seed unable to replicate her early season hard-court success – which included titles in Brisbane, Indian Wells and Miami – on the clay or grass.
She suffered last-16 exits in Toronto and Cincinnati in the build-up to the US Open, but has rediscovered something approaching her best form at the tournament where she is yet to lose a quarter-final in six attempts.
For Noskova, this defeat, during which she hit more winners, fewer unforced errors, and saved seven of her nine break points, ends a run of 11 consecutive singles wins at Grand Slams.
