By Shayan Najeeb — The Changer
NEW YORK: Aryna Sabalenka’s latest victory at Flushing Meadows delivered something more significant than another place in the US Open quarter-finals: the world No. 1 has now reached the last eight in New York for a sixth consecutive year, matching a consistency benchmark last achieved by Serena Williams from 2011 through 2016. Sabalenka overcame an aggressive start from American Taylor Townsend to win 6-4, 6-3 at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday, extending her winning streak at the tournament to 17 matches as she pursues a third consecutive US Open title.
Townsend initially exposed a vulnerability that had barely appeared in Sabalenka’s opening week. The American broke the defending champion three times in her first four service games, a striking reversal after Sabalenka had surrendered fewer games than any other woman through the first three rounds. Townsend’s variation and willingness to attack the net repeatedly disrupted the top seed, but Sabalenka stabilised her serve and increasingly imposed the baseline power that has made her the dominant player at Flushing Meadows.
The recovery was arguably more revealing than the straight-sets scoreline. Sabalenka had entered the fourth round having conceded only 15 games across her first three matches, including a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kamilla Rakhimova. Against Townsend, however, she had to solve a different tactical problem after falling behind and losing serve repeatedly. Once she adjusted, Sabalenka took control and closed the second set by winning its final four games.
Her next challenge raises the stakes considerably. Sixth seed Linda Noskova defeated Marta Kostyuk 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 on Sunday, surviving a dramatic match in which she squandered multiple opportunities before finally converting. The Czech player arrives in her first US Open quarter-final as the reigning Wimbledon champion, transforming Sabalenka’s next match into a confrontation between the woman who has ruled New York and the player who conquered London this summer.
There is another advantage for Sabalenka: familiarity. Noskova trails her 0-2 in their head-to-head series, with Sabalenka winning their most recent encounter in the Indian Wells semi-finals earlier this year. Yet Noskova’s breakthrough season means the quarter-final represents a substantially different test from the lower-ranked opponents Sabalenka encountered during the opening rounds in New York.
Sabalenka is also competing with more than a trophy at stake. She entered the latter stages of the tournament with her world No. 1 ranking potentially under pressure, with Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula among the players who began the fourth round still mathematically capable of finishing the US Open at the top of the rankings. Sabalenka has said she is concentrating on her own performances rather than those calculations.