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| Venue of events: Flushing Meadows, New York Dates: August 31 to September 13 |
| Coverage: Selected radio and text commentary live on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, BBC Sounds, the BBC Sport website and app. |
Serena Williams kept her hopes alive for a record 24 individual Grand Slam titles with a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory over Tsvetana Pironkova in the US Open quarterfinals.
The six-time American champion, 38, struggled early on with the variety of shots from the unranked player who was in her first tournament in three years.
The 32-year-old Bulgarian broke in the fifth game en route to taking the first set.
Pironkova got tired when Williams took the second and broke twice in the third.
The veteran will now play against former world number one Victoria Azarenka or 16th Belgian seed Elise Mertens.
Williams said he couldn’t afford another slow start if he wants to reach his fifth Grand Slam final in three years.
“I was feeling it a little bit in my legs and an hour later, for some reason, I have more energy. I can’t do that if I want to keep winning,” said the American, who last won the US Open in 2014.
“I’m back to play on Thursday. I’m used to playing back to back, but I need to figure out how to start a little faster.
“I keep fighting, I never give up. You have to keep going.”
Williams takes advantage of Pironkova’s fatigue
As in her third-round match against Sloane Stephens, Williams got off to a slow start that Pironkova took advantage of in longer rallies and with her dangerous severed right hand. The break seemed inevitable and came in the fifth game when the Bulgarian, a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2010, hit a big backhand to two.
There were signs Williams was improving towards the end of that set, and although she broke early in the second set, the American leveled immediately and then had a break point in Pironkova’s next service game.
That was spared, but the former world No. 31 lost her serve again when she was outmatched and outmatched in the eighth game, decided by a mistake after a phenomenal 26-shot play. Her most decorated opponent raised her arm and let out a cry of celebration and relief within the nearly empty Arthur Ashe Stadium.
At this stage, the points earned by Pironkova in her first and second serves had dropped from 87% and 70%, respectively, to 47% and 55%, and the unforced errors increased from five to 10. It seemed that the efforts of the fences. of three-hours of three sets against Alize Cornet in the previous round were beginning to take their toll.
Williams also experienced a three-set competition in their round of 16 match, but her stamina seemed to increase as this match progressed. He broke twice more in the third set and booked his spot in the semifinal with a game to love, which contained his 20th ace.
‘You play a game, you go home and keep changing diapers’
The defeat ended the fairytale comeback of the Plovdiv player, who after a shoulder injury in 2017 decided to start a family and take a break from the sport.
Pironkova chose the Flushing Meadows tournament to mark her comeback and entered the first-round stage courtesy of a protected ranking of 123, the position she held the last time she played.
Williams paid tribute to the Bulgarian for reaching the semi-finals in her first tournament since 2017.
“It shows me how tough moms are,” said the former champion. “As long as you can give birth to a baby, you can honestly do anything. We saw it today, she played amazing.
“I could barely win a game when I came back, so she’s amazing. Her baby has to be younger than mine – you play a game, you go home and keep changing diapers, it’s like a double life.”
