US Open: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka moves on to quarterfinals with straight-sets victory over Taylor Townsend

Aryna Sabalenka avoided the stumbles that top seeds encountered during Saturday's third-round action at the US Open by dispatching Taylor Townsend to move on to the quarterfinals.

The women's No. 1 seed faced a battle from the unseeded American, but eventually won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, on Sunday and will face the winner between No. 6 Linda Nosková and No. 11 Marta Kostyuk next as she pursues her third consecutive US Open championship.

Sabalenka has won 17 consecutive matches in Flushing and has advanced to the quarterfinals for the sixth straight year.

Townsend, who advanced to the fourth round by getting past No. 15 Diana Shnaider on Friday, wasn't overwhelmed by Sabalenka's serve as many of her opponents often are, and broke twice early in the first set. But she hurt herself by hitting several returns wide or long.

When Townsend tied the first set at 2-2, Sabalenka appeared as if frustration might unsettle her as it has when she's struggled previously. Instead, she channeled whatever anger she may have been feeling into several strong returns. After breaking Townsend's serves, Sabalenka held to go ahead 4-2 and settled in.

Townsend had the support of the crowd of her fellow Americans at Arthur Ashe Stadium — which Sabalenka couldn't resist alluding to during her post-match interview — but made too many unforced errors and allowed Sabalenka to lock in.

Sabalenka appeared to have momentum as the second set began, but Townsend was able to hold serve. Throughout the match, she caught Sabalenka off guard with her play at the net, charging shots that were seemingly out of reach.

Townsend went ahead in the second set, catching Sabalenka flat-footed with consecutive aces and eventually broke her serve to take a 3-1 lead. That roused the crowd to get louder for Townsend, but Sabalenka regained control by breaking back and then holding serve.

After Sabalenka tied the set at 3-3, Townsend began to falter by misfiring on a forehand return and then double-faulting. Sabalenka broke serve twice to win three consecutive games. Perhaps sensing a win in hand, she found the accuracy on her returns, nailing a cross-court backhand. The American underdog couldn't recover from there.

Despite losing in straight sets, Townsend did provide some tough opposition and capitalized on Sabalenka not controlling her serve — especially early in that second set. As the defending champion moves on to the quarterfinals, Sabalenka may encounter more difficulties against players who can take advantage when she doesn't hold serve. Not beating themselves with mistakes could also help.