Aryna Sabalenka’s quest for a third consecutive U.S. Open title remained on track when the No. 1 seed from Belarus advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Taylor Townsend on Sunday.
The victory, in 1 hour, 15 minutes, over the unseeded Townsend of the United States was not without its challenges after Sabalenka trailed 3-1 in the second set following a break of serve.
Sabalenka responded in dominating fashion, breaking Townsend’s serve three consecutive times the rest of the way to close out the round-of-16 match.
Sabalenka will now face No. 6 seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic, who is the Wimbledon champion. Sabalenka has won both career meetings.
Noskova advanced by recording a 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 victory over No. 11 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.
“It’s definitely super challenging, and I think it’s really important to focus on yourself and just put as much pressure as you can on that side,” Sabalenka said about the depth of the women’s draw.
Townsend had six aces to two for Sabalenka to thrill the U.S. crowd but Sabalenka won 54% of her service points to 43% for her opponent.
In the opening set, Sabalenka was broken in her first two service games and three total times. But she broke Townsend’s serve four times and won the opening set on her own serve.
“What an incredible player she is,” Sabalenka said of Townsend in her on-court interview. “Approaching the net, what a great returner, moving well, very brave. It was really challenging playing her, especially here.”
Sabalenka even had praise for the neutral crowd.
“But I gotta say, thank you so much for being so respectful to me,” she said. “Obviously you guys are going to be on her side, but I didn’t expect you being so respectful to me and sometimes cheering for me, so I really appreciate that. And I’m happy, I’m happy to be through this really tough opponent.”
Noskova, 21, faced some tough moments while trying to close out her win. Kostyuk saved three match points before Noskova closed it out to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the third time.
“I am more than relieved. This match was so tough emotionally more than physically,” Noskova said oncourt. “Today was very close, it could have ended both ways.”
Kostyuk had a 9-0 edge in aces and hit 36 winners to Noskova’s 27. She also committed fewer unforced errors (33 to 37).
Overall, Kostyuk saved five match points. She reached the semifinals at both the French Open and Wimbledon this year.
No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula advanced to her fourth U.S. Open quarterfinal in the last five years with a 6-3, 6-4 win over 16th-seeded Sorana Cirstea of Romania in 1 hour, 25 minutes.
Pegula won the first 13 points of the match and led 3-0 before Cirstea made it more challenging. Cirstea, 36, plans to retire at the end of this season, making this her probable last Grand Slam match.
“I think she’s such a great competitor and the utmost professional,” said Pegula, 32.
“I know it seemed somewhat straightforward, but that was a battle,” she added. “It was definitely really intense.”
Pegula recorded more aces (5-1) but also more double faults (5-2). She converted 7 of 16 break-point chances, to 4 of 11 for Cirstea.
Emma Navarro, the 26th seed, eliminated No. 21 Anna Kalinskaya of Russia 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour, 21 minutes.
Navarro took advantage of her power with more aces (6-2) as well as serving issues for Kalinskaya, who made nine double faults to one for the American.
Also key was Navarro’s ability to save 5 of 6 break points, while her opponent saved 2 of 6. Kalinskaya was undermined by 32 unforced errors while having a slight edge in winners (17-15).
–Field Level Media
