Sabalenka survives Nosková in two tie-breaks to reach a sixth straight US Open semi-final

Aryna Sabalenka beat Linda Nosková 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-6(10-7) on 8 September at Arthur Ashe Stadium and reached a sixth consecutive US Open semi-final. The defending champion had not dropped a set in New York this year until the Wimbledon winner took the second. Sabalenka then trailed 4-2 in the third before she pulled the match back.

Nosková, seeded sixth, served 18 aces and saved seven of nine break points. The first set followed a pattern that has marked Sabalenka’s season since April: a fast start, a dip, a tie-break that she still won. She led 3-0. Serving for the set she double-faulted, shouted, and was broken. Nosková took three games in a row and forced the breaker. Sabalenka then won it 7-1.

The second set belonged to the Czech. She kept first-serve points short and made Sabalenka hit extra balls from mid-court. The scoreboard read 6-3. In the third, Nosková broke in the fifth game. Sabalenka crouched and shouted again after an unforced error. At 4-2 the match was Nosková’s to close. She could not. Sabalenka won three games running, forced another tie-break, and finished it 10-7 with a second-serve ace.

“What a battle. What an incredible player she is. I’m speechless right now because I was pushing myself to the limit this match,” Sabalenka said.

The win keeps her at world No. 1 for at least another day and keeps a third straight US Open title in view. She has now reached the last four at Flushing Meadows every year since 2021. The opponent in the semi-final will be American. Jessica Pegula, the No. 3 seed, and Emma Navarro, the No. 26 seed, were due to play later on the same court. Pegula has the ranking and the record against Sabalenka. Navarro has the quieter ball and a draw that already removed higher seeds.

Nosková leaves New York with a first Grand Slam quarter-final that lasted the full distance against the player who has owned this court. The 18 aces will sit in the stat sheet. So will the 4-2 lead that vanished. For Sabalenka the useful fact is narrower. Since April she has lost matches from winning positions by feeding the moment. On Tuesday she did the opposite. That is the piece a knowledgeable viewer who already saw the scoreline still needs: the ranking was in play in the third set, and she chose to hit through the panic rather than manage it.

Men’s quarter-finals on the same day listed Carlos Alcaraz against Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe against Alex Michelsen, Alexander Zverev against Botic van de Zandschulp, and Alexander Blockx against Karen Khachanov. The Tiafoe-Michelsen meeting was billed in the building as a chance to end a 23-year gap since the last American man in a US Open final. Those matches do not change Sabalenka’s side of the draw. Her next hour on Ashe will be against whoever wins the all-American quarter.

Sabalenka has now played 11 US Open quarter-final sets across six years and is still in the tournament. Nosková goes home with a Wimbledon title already in the bag and a New York afternoon that asked a different question. The answer, on this surface, was that the first serve was enough to stay level and not enough to close.