Aryna Sabalenka looked beaten. Then she reminded New York why this is her house.
The world No.1 clawed back from a break down in the deciding set to edge Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova 7-6(7-1), 3-6, 7-6(10-7) and reach the US Open semifinals for a sixth straight year, surviving her sternest examination of the fortnight.
At 2-4 in the third, Sabalenka later admitted she thought, “the match is over.” It wasn’t. Not even close.
A champion pushed to the brink
Noskova arrived as the sixth seed and played like a woman intent on ripping up the script. She unloaded 18 aces, bullied Sabalenka’s second serve, and saved seven of nine break points. For long stretches, it was Sabalenka reacting and Noskova dictating.
Sabalenka landed the first real blow, breaking in the second game with a forehand lashed into the corner that Noskova didn’t even bother to chase. That early statement, though, didn’t scare the Czech. She broke back in the ninth game with heavy, fearless hitting from the baseline and dragged the opener into a tiebreak.
Bad idea.
Sabalenka, who earlier this year ran up a record streak of 21 consecutive tiebreak wins at the majors, slipped into her favourite gear. She tore through the first six points of the breaker and closed it out 7-1, a reminder that few players handle high‑wire moments better.
Noskova swings back
The match turned again. Sabalenka’s firepower dipped, her radar flickering just enough to give Noskova room. The Czech’s serve tightened; Sabalenka’s returns lost their depth. A double fault from the defending champion handed Noskova a 4-2 lead in the second set, and this time the underdog did not blink.
Noskova levelled the match with authority, one set all and all the pressure suddenly back on the two-time defending champion chasing a third straight title at Flushing Meadows.
The tension spilled into the decider. Sabalenka, usually so composed in New York, screamed in frustration as a pair of double faults midway through the set helped Noskova break again. At 4-2, the upset felt real. The stadium sensed it. So did Sabalenka.
And that is when the switch flipped.
The great escape
Freed by the feeling that she was already beaten, Sabalenka started swinging. She went after her shots, flattened her groundstrokes, and stopped waiting for Noskova to miss. The Belarusian steadied, broke back in the eighth game, and dragged the contest toward the one place where she has been almost untouchable: another tiebreak.
Noskova kept swinging, but the momentum had shifted. Sabalenka, back in her element, tightened the screws in the decisive breaker. She played with the conviction of a player who has now won 21 of her past 22 matches at the year-end grand slam, and who has made the last four in New York every year since 2019.
An ace sealed it, Sabalenka collapsing into a roar as the crowd rose with her. She immediately pointed to the stands, crediting the fans for driving her over the line on a night when her game wobbled but her will did not.
Chasing Serena’s shadow
This sixth consecutive US Open semifinal places Sabalenka alongside rare company. She has matched Serena Williams’ run from 2011 to 2016, a stretch in which Serena lifted three of her six titles in New York. Sabalenka is still some distance from that haul, but the pattern is starting to look familiar: year after year, she’s there when the tournament reaches its sharpest edge.
Next comes an all-American roadblock: Jessica Pegula or Emma Navarro. Both know these courts, both will have the crowd’s voice in their corner.
Sabalenka, though, has something else — a growing history of surviving nights like this in Arthur Ashe Stadium. The question now is whether anyone can stop her turning that resilience into a third straight crown.
