She is now at the round of 16 in New York

Tsvetana Pironkova extended her remarkable run at the 2020 US Open with a 6-4 6-1 win over Donna Vekic. This is her first WTA event in three years. Her excellent performances are arguably the biggest surprise of this year’s event in New York.

After spending three years away from tennis on maternity leave, the Bulgarian, now 32, used a protected ranking to enter the US Open 2020. Many viewers may not have even noticed Pironkova was in the draw. And if they did, they probably expected her to go out in the first round. Or, at best, the second round. The odds were always against her.

However, the Bulgarian has confounded expectations. She beat World No.120 Liudmila Samsonova in the first round. Then she shocked World No.16 Garbine Muguruza in the next round.

Those wins earned Pironkova a third-round meeting with World No.24 Vekic, who reached the quarter-final at the US Open last year.