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Friday, September 4, 2026

US.6- Here Comes the Ukrainian Again


Inevitably, here comes Marta. Again.









=DAY 6 NOTES=
...so, does Marta Kostyuk's "inevitability" translate to New York? Well, it has so far, at least.

The #11-seeded Ukrainian advanced to her second straight U.S. Open 4th Round on Friday, handling #18 Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3/6-2 as she tries to find her way into what would be her third consecutive major semifinal. She's 13-3 in slam action in 2026.



Kostyuk didn't show up at Flushing Meadows with the same sort of momentum she did Paris (where she reached her maiden major SF), before which she'd gone undefeated on the dirt and won titles in Rouen and Madrid, but she still managed to follow up her Wimbledon SF (in her only grass event) with continued success on a third surface. She reached the Round of 16 in Toronto, then the QF in Cincinnati, adding to her Top 10 win total in the latter with a victory over Mirra Andreeva to give her eight such victories on the year (she'd had nine in her career before this season).

Kostyuk's win today gives her an 8-2 HC mark in recent weeks, and extends her prolonged stretch of consistent results. Since mid-April, Kostyuk has put together a combined, three-surface run of 29-4. She's a round away from another potential (inevitable?) match-up with #1 Aryna Sabalenka, who prevailed 6-3/6-4 today over Kamilla Rakhimova.

Two-time defending champ Sabalenka has now won sixteen straight U.S. Open matches and has officially put together another season of four second week runs in majors. She's reached at least the Round of 16 in her last sixteen slam appearances.

Sabalenka leads her head-to-head with Kostyuk at 5-0, but the two have never met in a hard court major. Kostyuk has yet take a set off Sabalenka in the series, but they've played in multiple super-competitve match-ups over the past 16+ months, with three of their six sets going to tie-breaks.

But for match #6 to happen the two women will have to get past Taylor Townsend and Linda Noskova.

Sabalenka will face the unseeded Townsend, the doubles #2 who is also seeking to complete a Career Doubles Slam at this major, as she and Katerina Siniakova have already won the AO, RG and Wimbledon titles (Siniakova would become the first player to win a Career Slam with two different partners, having already done it with Barbora Krejcikova).

As far as her singles, Townsend's 6-2/6-7(3)/6-3 win today over #15 Diana Shnaider puts her into a second straight U.S. Open Round of 16, the third of her career in the event (she's 0-for-24 in appearances in the other three majors).

Townsend had served for the match at 6-2/5-4, only to see Shnaider roar back to lead 6-5. Townsend denied five SP to force a TB, where Shnaider won 7-3 to get to a 3rd set. But Townsend wasn't to be denied, getting the only break of the final set to lead 5-3 and then serving out the win.



For her part, #6 Noskova was put to a test by #29 Ann Li. The Wimbledon champion led 6-2/5-3 and served for the win at 5-4, only to be forced to a TB. There the Czech led 5-2, then wavered a bit but reached MP at 6-5, only to see Li sweep the final three points for an 8-6 win.

In the 3rd, though, Noskova righted the ship and took home the 6-2/6-7(6)/6-2 victory, her tenth straight in slam play this season. She'll face Kostyuk, the player she beat in the semis at the All-England Club earlier this summer.



...for a bit today, it seemed as if the first of the "four women in question" at this U.S. Open might be shown the door. In a match-up of former finalists, #3 Jessie Pegula fell victim in the early going to a supremely in-form #31 Leylah Fernandez, who bum-rushed the veteran Bannerette in a 6-1 1st set.

The Canadian had a shot to grab the 2nd set by the neck, as well, with a BP on Pegula's serve in game 5, then four more two games later after Fernandez had followed up her inability to get the break in her first attempt by dropping her own serve a game later. Trying to go big on returns, Fernandez missed instead, quite the opposite of what would have likely happened had this match taken place five years ago during her run to the final that included wins over *three* Top 5 opponents before her loss to qualifier Emma Raducanu.

Then, Fernandez would have gotten the break, shot her fist into the air (it was really Connors-like in the moment) and then injected a bit of rocket fuel into her soul as she raced toward the finish line.

But in 2026, which has been quite the challenging season for Fernandez (she came into this event at just 15-22, w/ her Round of 16 in Toronto her first multi-win event since May and just her fourth all season), it all turned out to be a big missed opportunity to push Pegula over the edge when she *might* have been unusually susceptible to a fall.

Fernandez finally got the break in the third game with BP chances in the 2nd, getting things back on serve at 5-4, but it was too little, too late. She'd drop her own serve again (at 15) in the next game as Pegula leveled the match and officially made the turn that saw her finally take control, easing her way down the road to a 1-6/6-4/6-3 win and her fifth straight push into the U.S. Open second week.



Pegula will next get #16 Sorana Cirstea, who ended #19 Jasmine Paolini's run with a 6-3/6-3 win. It's the 36-year old's second-best result in New York (behind only a '23 QF) in 17 MD appearances at Flushing Meadows (and a pair of failed qualifiying runs). The Romanian's eight wins in slam compeitition this season match her career-best collective season results in majors (a dozen years apart, in 2009 and '21).

...meanwhile, after what has been a fabulous season and sterling opening two rounds, #7 Karolina Muchova had what was maybe her most disappointing performance of the entire season in her 3rd Rounder match-up with #26 Emma Navarro, falling to the U.S. #6 by a 6-3/7-5 score.

Muchova had been 16-3 in her last 19 matches at the U.S. Open, including SF-SF-QF results the last three years.



Navarro reached the U.S. SF in 2024, but has had to produce a slow build in '26 after taking a break early this season to deal with ongoing health issues. She's been playing her way back in recent months, winning a title in Strasbourg and reaching the Nottingham final. Her win over Muchova is her third Top 10 victory of '26, as well as her third such win on a third different surface on the year. She joins Coco Gauff and Muchova herself as the only players to notch Top 10 wins on hard court, clay and grass this season.

Navarro has improved her '26 slam results at each turn, going from a 1st Round in Melbourne to the 2nd in Paris, then 3rd in London. She's into the 4th Round in New York, and will next look for more against #21 Anna Kalinskaya.

Under the lights on Armstrong, the Hordette made #9 Elina Svitolina the second Top 10 seed to fall on Friday, winning 6-3/2-6/6-3 to reach her first career U.S. Open 4th Round. The result completes Kalinskaya's Career Round of 16 Slam (in her 24th career major MD).

She's posted all four of her career slam 4th Round+ results since AO24.



...earlier, in the opening match on Ashe, the Williams sisters returned to play their first doubles match as a team at the U.S. Open since 2022.



It turned out to be an entertaining, three-hour affair against Chan Hao-ching (aka Angel) & Maya Joint, the latter the same Aussie who defeated Serena in *singles* in the 1st Round at Wimbledon. After Chan/Joint took the 1st, the Williamses battled back to knot the match as they went to a (full) 3rd set in an attempt to record their first win together since the 2018 Roland Garros (they'd gone 0-3 since then coming into the night).



Chan/Joint took a 4-1 lead in the 3rd before things turned (at a point, in should be noted, where the "MX" event set would have *ended*), as the sisters forced a deciding match tie-break, where they raced to a 5-0 lead. But for the second time in their two doubles matches this summer, after losing 6-0 and 8-2 leads vs. Kostyuk/Stearns in their 1st Round MTB in Cincinnati, the Williamses' lead evaporated as Chan/Joint rallied to win 6-3/6-7(6)/7-6(10-7).



While the whole thing was actually a worthwhile outing, and lived up to the attention it expectedly received, we can now officially move into the middle weekend with all the exhibitions and sideshows behind us, and finally get to the actual tournament.







*WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR vs. Taylor Townsend/USA
#11 Marta Kostyuk/UKR vs. #6 Linda Noskova/CZE
#3 Jessie Pegula/USA vs. #16 Sorana Cirstea/ROU
#21 Anna Kalinskaya/RUS vs. #26 Emma Navarro/USA
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. x
x vs. x

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
Karolina Muchova/Jakub Mensik (CZE/CZE) def. #4 Belinda Bencic/Flavio Cobolli (SUI/ITA) 6-3/1-6 [10-6]










...STILL STICKING TO HER GUNS... ON DAY 6:





..."HEY, I KNOW THAT DUDE!"... ON DAY 6:





...THE BALL HAD ALREADY BEEN CALLED OUT, BUT SHE COULD HARDLY RESIST, YOU KNOW?... ON DAY 6:




























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**BACKSPIN 2026 DOUBLES PLAYER-OF-THE-MONTH WINNERS**
JAN (pre-AO): Siniakova/Zhang, CZE/CHN
AO: Mertens/Zhang, BEL/CHN
FEB: Danilina/Krunic, KAZ/SRB
MAR: Siniakova/Townsend, CZE/USA
1Q...SINIAKOVA/TOWNSEND
APR: Cirstea/Zhang, ROU/CHN
MAY: Siniakova/Townsend, CZE/USA
RG: Siniakova/Townsend, CZE/USA
2Q 1...SINIAKOVA/TOWNSEND
JUN: Dart/Lumsden, GBR/GBR
WI: Guo/Mladenovic, CHN/FRA
2Q 2 (grass)...GUO/MLADENOVIC
JUL: Dart/Lumsden, GBR/GBR
AUG: Siniakova/Zhang, CZE/CHN
[Multiple 2026 Weekly DOUBLES Award Wins]
6...Dabrowski/Stefani, CAN/BRA
4...Siniakova/Townsend, CZE/USA
3...Aoyama/Liang, JPN/TPE
3...Danilina/Krunic, KAZ/SRB
3...Dart/Lumsden, GBR/GBR
3...Siniakova/Zhang, CZE/CHN

**BACKSPIN 2026 DOWN PLAYER-OF-THE-MONTH WINNERS**
JAN (pre-AO): Iga Swiatek, POL
AO: Belinda Bencic, SUI
FEB: Errani/Paolini, ITA/ITA
MAR: Iga Swiatek, POL
1Q...SWIATEK
APR: Iga Swiatek, POL
MAY: Jasmine Paolini, ITA
RG: Elena Rybakina, KAZ
2Q 1...SWIATEK
JUN: Elena Rybakina, KAZ
WI: Iga Swiatek, POL
2Q 2 (grass)...SWIATEK
JUL: Cristina Bucsa, ESP
AUG: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
[Multiple 2026 Weekly DOWN Award Wins]
4...Iga Swiatek, POL
3...Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS
3...Jasmine Paolini, ITA
3...Elena Rybakina, KAZ
3...Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
3...Liudmila Samsonova, RUS
2...Emma Navarro, USA
2...Alona Ostapenko, LAT
2...Clara Tauson, DEN





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Wait, the official US White House website is featuring an arcade style game in which a cartoon white man in a suit chases cartoon black and brown people, eats/destroys them, and changes them into orange-clad inmates!?!

[image or embed]

— Dr. Jenny Morber (@jrmorber.bsky.social) September 4, 2026 at 12:45 PM









TOP QUALIFIER: Lucie Havlickova, CZE
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #7 Karolina Muchova/CZE (follows up MX title w/ 4 games lost 1r/2r)
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): x
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2: #31 Andrea Lazaro Garcia/ESP def. Mai Hontama/JPN 5-7/7-6(6)/6-1 - saved 7 MP, four at 5-4 in 2nd set and three more at triple MP at 6-3 in TB
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - Cristina Bucsa/ESP def. (Q) Himeno Sakatsume/JPN 7-6(6)/6-7(0)/7-6(10-6) - three tie-breaks; Bucsa served 5-4 w/ 2 MP in 3rd, then again at 6-5
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F): x
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Jasmine Paolini/ITA (def. Veronika Erjavec/SLO)
FIRST SEED OUT: #27 Barbora Krejcikova/CZE (1r- lost to Kamila Rakhimova/UZB)
FIRST CAREER SLAM MD WINS: Polina Iatcenko/RUS (1st MD), Himeno Sakatsume/JPN (2nd), Lilli Tagger/AUT (2nd)
PROTECTED RANKING MD WINS: Nadia Podoroska/ARG, Mananchaya Sawangkaew/THA (both 2nd Rd.)
LUCKY LOSER MD WINS: D.Semenistaja/LAT (1r-L)
UPSET QUEENS: Spain
REVELATION LADIES: Great Britain
NATION OF POOR SOULS: SUI (0-3 1st Rd.; #12 Bencic hightest seed out; Teichmann w/d)
CRASH & BURN: Nominee: V.Williams (1r loss is 15th con. defeat)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: Madison Keys/USA (2r- saved 5 MP vs. Bondar/HUN; Bondar 2 MP at 5-2 in 3rd, 3 more at 5-3, then served for again at 5-4; Bondar led 5-3 in MTB, Keys won last 7 points)
IT ("?"): x
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Zheng Qinwen/CHN (in 3rd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Leolia Jeanjean/FRA, Sofia Kenin/USA, Taylah Preston/AUS, Sloane Stephens/USA (all 2nd Rd.)
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: in 3r: Anisimova, Gauff, Jovic, Keys, Li(L), Navarro(W), Pegula(W), Townsend(W)
COMEBACK: x
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): x
DOUBLES STAR: x
BIG APPLE BANNERETTE BREAKTHROUGH: Nominee: Frodin (17; makes slam debut)
BROADWAY-BOUND: Naomi Osaka (and the nominee for "Best Costume Design" is...)
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominee: Kenin d. V.Williams in 2:02 a.m. finish (latest 1r)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: x
BIG CITY ROLLER: x







All for Day 6. More tomorrow.
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