Chalk Mostly Held, One Qualifier Refuses the Script: US Open Women’s Quarterfinals

Somebody forgot to tell the 2026 US Open women’s draw that Grand Slam quarterfinals are supposed to be chaos. Six months of “but what about the depth of the field” takes, and here we are: the top six seeds all made the final eight, the first time that’s happened at this event since 1998. Chalk, chalk, and more chalk.

Except for one delightfully stubborn exception. More on her in a minute, because we’re saving dessert for last.

Sabalenka Survives Nosková in a Slugfest (and Keeps the Three-Peat Alive)

No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka opened proceedings on Ashe against No. 6 Linda Nosková, and for a set and a half it looked like the three-peat bid might end early. Sabalenka raced out to a 4-1 lead in the first (business as usual), then watched Nosková rip off a string of games to drag it to a tiebreak, which Sabalenka closed out 7-6(1). Cue the plot twist: Nosková stormed back to grab the second set 6-3, and suddenly Arthur Ashe had a real match on its hands.

The decider went the distance too, another breaker, and Sabalenka came through 7-6(7) to book a semifinal against Jessica Pegula — a rematch of last year’s semi and the 2024 final, because apparently these two are contractually obligated to keep meeting deep in New York. (Fourth straight US Open they’ll have crossed paths in the final four or later. At what point do we just give them a standing weekly appointment?)

Pegula Outlasts Navarro in the First All-American QF Since the Williams Sisters

Speaking of Pegula — she and No. 26 seed Emma Navarro delivered the first all-American women’s quarterfinal at the US Open since Serena beat Venus back in 2015. No pressure, ladies.

Navarro came out swinging, breaking Pegula’s serve twice to snatch the first set. But Pegula, who’s simply won more matches than anyone on tour this season, found another gear, leveling things at 6-4 in the second before closing it out 6-3 in the third. 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, and Pegula’s four-for-four in her career head-to-head against Navarro now extends into the semis. We’re calling it: somebody buy Navarro a lucky rabbit’s foot before the next one.

The Zheng Fairy Tale Keeps Writing Itself

And now, the story of this tournament. Zheng Qinwen — ranked outside the top 100 after elbow surgery, forced to grind through qualifying just to get into the main draw — has made a habit of playing dead and then absolutely not dying. Down 0-5 against Madison Keys in the fourth round? Saved a match point and won it anyway. Down 0-5 to former champion Iga Świątek in the fourth round proper? Reeled off seven straight games to nick the first set, then finished her off 7-5, 6-3.

That’s back-to-back comebacks from the tennis equivalent of the emergency room, and it’s made Zheng the first qualifier to reach the US Open women’s quarterfinals since a certain Emma Raducanu went on to win the whole thing in 2021. (We’re not saying it’s an omen. We’re also not not saying it.)

Her reward: No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina, who’s been the tournament’s quiet wrecking ball, dropping just Osaka in 1 hour, 6 minutes on her way to the last eight — a 6-1, 6-4 beatdown where Osaka never found her footing. Rybakina’s also got a very tangible carrot dangling in front of her: win, and she reclaims the world No. 1 ranking regardless of what Sabalenka does the rest of the way. Rybakina leads the head-to-head 4-1, including two wins over Zheng already this season, both of which went the distance. Vegas has her a heavy favorite. Vegas also didn’t see the Świątek match coming.

Gauff and Andreeva Round Out the Quarterfinal Slate

The last match of the round pits No. 4 Coco Gauff against No. 5 Mirra Andreeva, the two most recent French Open champions squaring off with a semifinal spot on the line. Gauff arrives having dropped a single set — none, actually — through four rounds, most recently dispatching fellow American Iva Jovic 6-1, 6-4. Andreeva needed a bit more scrambling to see off Anastasia Potapova, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, in the round of 16.

The head-to-head is lopsided on paper — Gauff’s won all five of their previous meetings, including a straight-sets win at this very event back in 2023 — but their most recent clash, in Rome this spring, went three sets before Gauff pulled away. Andreeva, for her part, arrives as a Grand Slam champion now rather than a prodigy chasing one, and that changes the equation more than the head-to-head suggests.

Both of Wednesday’s late quarterfinals were still to be completed at the time of writing — check back with us for the semifinal picture once Ashe empties out.

What It All Means

Two spots in Thursday’s semifinal locked in: Sabalenka and Pegula, running back a matchup we’ve now seen three US Opens running. The other two are up for grabs between a No. 1-ranking-chasing Rybakina, a fairy-tale-chasing Zheng, and the Gauff-Andreeva rematch of the sport’s newest great rivalry. However it shakes out, this is shaping up to be one of the more top-heavy — and yet somehow still unpredictable — women’s draws New York has seen in years.