World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka defeated Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-3 in the fourth round of the US Open on Sunday, reaching her sixth consecutive quarterfinal at the tournament and matching a streak previously held by Serena Williams, according to Tennis Majors.
Sabalenka needed one hour and 15 minutes to get past the American, but the scoreline undersold how contested the match was. Seven of the first set’s ten games went against serve, and the match featured 11 total breaks across its 19 games, according to Sky Sports. Sabalenka broke Townsend in an opening game that stretched to four deuces, was immediately broken back, and the pair traded breaks repeatedly before Sabalenka finally held for a 4-2 lead. She dropped the opening set’s rhythm further before closing it out 6-4, then came back from an early 3-1 deficit in the second set to win the final five games and finish it 6-3, according to the WTA.
Townsend, ranked world No. 2 in doubles and playing in front of a home crowd, pressed her all-court game throughout, winning just eight of 20 trips to the net as Sabalenka repeatedly found passing shots to keep her at bay, according to Tennis Now. Sabalenka won 15 of 19 points played on Townsend’s second serve.
The win marked Sabalenka’s 44th victory of the 2026 season and her 38th career win at the US Open — more than any player has recorded at the tournament since her main-draw debut in 2018. It also extended her active winning streak in New York to 17 consecutive matches; she has gone 23-1 across her last 24 matches at Flushing Meadows, according to the WTA.
Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, next faces the winner of a fourth-round matchup between 11th-seeded Marta Kostyuk and sixth-seeded Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova. A third consecutive US Open title would require her to also hold onto the world No. 1 ranking, which depends in part on results from Elena Rybakina elsewhere in the tournament.