On 8 September, in the opening quarterfinal, Aryna Sabalenka faced world number 6 Linda Nosková of the Czech Republic and prevailed in a three-set thriller, 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 7-6 (10-7). Aryna Sabalenka led 5-2 in the opening set but surrendered her advantage and had to win it in a tiebreak. Linda Nosková stepped up her game in the second set, but Sabalenka again prevailed in the deciding-set tiebreak. The match lasted 2 hours 20 minutes. Aryna Sabalenka hit 11 aces, while Nosková served 18.
In the semifinals, the Belarusian will face the winner of the quarterfinal between Jessica Pegula (No. 3) and Emma Navarro (No.27).Aryna Sabalenka has not dropped a single set in the tournament so far, beating Colombia’s Camila Osorio (No. 59), 6-2, 6-4, Russia’s Polina Iatcenko (No. 160), 6-1, 6-1, Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova (No. 92), 6-3, 6-4, and Taylor Townsend of the USA (No. 96), 6-4, 6-3. World No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan will face China’s Qinwen Zheng (No. 121), who defeated Poland’s Iga Swiatek (No. 8) in the round of 16. If Rybakina reaches the semifinals, she will take the top spot in the WTA rankings from Sabalenka, who has held the No.1 ranking for 107 consecutive weeks. In another quarterfinal, Coco Gauff (No. 4) of the United States will take on Mirra Andreeva (No. 5) of Russia.
Aryna Sabalenka has reached the US Open final three times in a row: in 2023 she lost to Coco Gauff, and in the following two finals she defeated two other Americans — Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova. In 2019, Aryna Sabalenka and Belgium’s Elise Mertens won the doubles title, defeating Belarusian Victoria Azarenka and Australian Ash Barty in the final. In singles, Victoria Azarenka has reached the final three times (2012, 2013, 2020), but has always lost the title to her opponents.
The final Grand Slam tournament of the season will conclude in New York on 13 September. The total prize pool for the 2026 US Open is a record $108 million, with the men’s and women’s singles champions each receiving $5.5 million. Last year, the men’s singles title was won by Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.
