Sabalenka overcomes tricky Townsend test at US Open

Two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka emulated Serena Williams as she eventually overpowered American Taylor Townsend to reach a sixth straight US Open quarter-final.

A topsy-turvy contest featured 10 breaks of serve, but Sabalenka recovered from 3-1 down in the second set to seal a 6-4 6-3 victory with a fifth consecutive game.

It was the Belarusian's 18th consecutive win at the tournament, extending her three-year unbeaten streak following back-to-back triumphs in 2024 and 2025.

Sabalenka, 28, is the first woman to reach six consecutive singles quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows since American great Williams in 2016.

Six-time champion Williams was also the last player to win three US Open titles in a row, and Sabalenka is now three wins from matching that feat.

She will face Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova for a semi-final place, after the Czech sixth seed required six match points to overcome Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk in a rollercoaster 7-5 5-7 6-4 win.

Despite the straightforward scoreline this was a tricky match which required a resilient display from Sabalenka, who also had the vast majority of the crowd against her.

In that context this was an impressive victory for the four-time major winner, who has not always managed to maintain her composure in similarly testing scenarios.

"I was just trying to stay focused on myself, not only point by point but ball by ball," Sabalenka said.

"I'm happy I was able to turn around the second set, I think it was a key moment."

The match began with five successive breaks of serve - mostly due to excellent returning by both players - but it was Sabalenka who finally took charge.

Doubles specialist Townsend, who walked out wearing a long, black-feathered outfit, continued to frustrate Sabalenka and forced her to serve out the set at the second opportunity, before making the breakthrough in the second set.

But Sabalenka, aware she must lift the trophy to have a chance of retaining her number one ranking, produced an immediate reply as she broke back to love and dashed to the finish line, wrapping up the victory in 75 minutes.

American third seed Jessica Pegula brought the curtain down on Sorana Cirstea's Grand Slam career with a 6-3 6-4 win over the Romanian.

Cirstea is set to retire at the end of 2026, despite it being one of the best seasons of her 20-year career.

In May, the 36-year-old became the oldest player in rankings history to make her top 20 debut and she is currently ranked at a career-high 17th following a run to the quarter-finals at the French Open.

She also reached the third round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, while she lifted the fourth WTA title of her career at her home tournament in Cluj-Napoca.

But Cirstea missed out on a third major quarter-final as Pegula came through a tricky test that saw 11 breaks of serve, securing victory on her third match point.

"I just told her I don't know if you're still going to play next year, but you are playing great and I said I have a lot of respect for you," Pegula said when asked what she told Cirstea when they shared an embrace at the net.

Pegula, the 2024 runner-up to Sabalenka, will continue her chase for a third straight US Open semi-final when she faces fellow American Emma Navarro, who defeated Russian Anna Kalinskaya 6-4 6-2.

Earlier on Sunday,Noskova's sense of relief was cleared as she crouched to the ground after taking her sixth match point about an hour after earning her first.

The 21-year-old served for the match in the second set, but missed her first two match points as Kostyuk battled back from 5-3 down to force a decider.

Noskova failed to take her next two match points in the decider, while she missed her fifth match point after saving a break point, before finally getting over the line after an emotionally draining two and a half hours on court.

"I am more than relieved, this match was so tough, emotionally a bit more than physically," said Noskova, who missed five championship points before lifting the Wimbledon title this summer.

"Today was very close, it could have ended both ways. With all the chances I had in the second set, it was tough to still kind of restart."

In the women's doubles, British pair Harriet Dart and Maia Lumsden lost 6-2 6-2 to Spain's Cristina Bucsa and American Nicole Melichar-Martinez, the sixth seeds.