Tsvetana Pironkova’s dream US Open run continues

Playing in her first tournament in more than three years, Tsvetana Pironkova’s dream run at the 2020 US Open continued on Day 8 as the 32-year-old Bulgarian advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 win over France’s unseeded Alize Cornet. 

A part of the “Mothers on Tour” band of players - led by Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka who have children but have chosen to resume their playing careers - Pironkova showed little rust in beating Cornet, who was playing in her 54th consecutive main draw Grand Slam singles match, US Open official website writes. 

In her post-match on-court interview, Pironkova choked up thinking about her 2-year-old son, Alexander, who she had in the spring of 2018 and has been apart from for the past two weeks. “It gets tougher every day,” she said, pausing. “I know he’s watching me, and he’s proud of me.” 

“I really can’t believe that I pulled through today. I was just so tired at the end of the match, and I didn’t really believe I had it in me. I just kept fighting and fighting and it finally paid off. I didn’t feel any pressure at all coming into the third set. I think I kind of changed my strategy and tried to be more aggressive because I didn’t think I would be able to run for 10 minutes every point. So I just tried to play quicker points, and it worked,” the Bulgarian player said.

The last tournament Pironkova played was at Wimbledon in 2017.