The match swung wildly, with 10 breaks of serve and moments of real drama, but Sabalenka steadied once the second set tilted her way. Townsend forced the top seed to serve out the opening set before breaking early in the second, but Sabalenka immediately broke back to love and closed the match with five straight games, losing just five points across those final games. The match lasted 75 minutes.
At 28, Sabalenka became the first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach six consecutive singles quarter-finals at the US Open. Her run continues a three-year unbeaten streak at the event, following back-to-back titles in 2024 and 2025, and leaves her three wins from matching Williams’s run of three consecutive US Open titles.
Sabalenka paid tribute to her opponent after the win. "I was just trying to stay focused on myself, not only point by point but ball by ball," she said. "I'm happy I was able to turn around the second set, I think it was a key moment." She also praised Townsend's game. "What an incredible player she is, approaching the net, a great returner, moving well, very brave," Sabalenka said, adding thanks to parts of the crowd that supported her at times.
Townsend, a doubles specialist who entered the court in a long black-feathered outfit, troubled Sabalenka with aggressive returning and net play, but could not convert the second-set advantage into a comeback. The top seed’s ability to close out the final games under crowd pressure will be noted after a tournament where she has not failed to reach the semi-finals since 2020.
Sabalenka’s next opponent will be Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, who survived a dramatic three-set battle against Marta Kostyuk, winning 7-5 5-7 6-4 after converting her sixth match point. Noskova described the match as more emotionally draining than physical. The quarter-final line-up now pits Sabalenka’s steady winning streak against a player who has shown resilience through extended matches, setting up a high-stakes encounter with semi-final implications and implications for Sabalenka’s bid to keep hold of the world number one position this season.
