9th September 2026 – (New York) Aryna Sabalenka continued her remarkable run at the US Open by advancing to the semi-finals for the sixth consecutive year following a hard-fought victory over Linda Noskova. The defending champion edged out the Wimbledon winner 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (10-7) in a match that was ultimately decided by a lengthy tie-break in the third set. After Sabalenka seized an early lead in the opening set, Noskova battled back, before Sabalenka closed out the set with a dominant performance in the tie-break. Noskova struck back in the second set, and managed to move ahead 4-2 in the decider, only for Sabalenka to level proceedings and clinch the win in a 10-point tie-break, bringing her unbeaten US Open streak to 18 matches. Post-match, Sabalenka expressed her disbelief at her own efforts, describing the encounter as a significant boost to her confidence and drive going forward.
Sabalenka will next play third seed Jessica Pegula, who overturned a first-set deficit to defeat Emma Navarro 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 and book her own place in the last four.
In the men’s draw, Ben Shelton produced the shock of the tournament to date, overcoming second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set epic. After dropping the first set on a tie-break, Shelton surged back to take the next two, weathered a strong response from Alcaraz in the fourth, and ultimately triumphed in a deciding-set tie-break after more than four hours on court. Shelton’s semi-final opponent will be Frances Tiafoe, seeded eleventh, who battled past compatriot Alex Michelsen in another five-set encounter, winning 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6).
In women’s doubles action, China’s Jiang Xinyu and Zhang Shuai were eliminated in straight sets by the second-seeded pairing of Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani, finishing 6-3, 6-4.