Mum’s the word as Williams, Azarenka set up

Serena Williams came out on top in the battle of the supermoms, rallying from a set and a break down to defeat Tsvetana Pironkova and reach her 14th US Open semifinal in New York yesterday.

In a historic showdown between two mothers, the 38-yearold Williams posted a 4-6 6-3 6-2 win over Pironkova and next faces familiar foe Victoria Azarenka, another mum, who routed Belgian 16th seed Elise Mertens 6-1 6-0 in just 73 minutes.

Meanwhile, last year’s runnerup Daniil Medvedev made it back into the US Open semifinals thanks to a tight 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory over good friend and fellow Russian Andrey Rublev.

Medvedev next faces Dominic Thiem who beat Australian Alex de Minaur 6-1 6-2 6-4.

Medvedev, 24, needed medical attention to his right shoulder and his legs started cramping late in the third set but still held firm to wrap up the win without facing a break point.

‘‘It was tough at the end,’’ said the third-seeded Medvedev, who let out a huge roar after the last point of the match. ‘‘That’s why maybe first time in almost a year I celebrated my win because it was very tough in the end and I felt like I could get in trouble.’’

In the women’s singles, Pironkova, unranked but playing with a protected ranking of 123, was contesting her first tournament in over three years, having walked away from the sport mid2017 to give birth and raise her first child, Alexander.

‘‘Just shows me how tough moms are. Whenever you can birth a baby, honestly you can do anything and I think we saw that with Tsvetana today, she played unbelievable,’’ said Williams, who is a mother to 3-year-old daughter Olympia.

‘‘I couldn’t even do that, I could barely win a match when I came back. She’s incredible.’’

Based on the WTA’s available records, this is just the second time two mothers have faced off at a Grand Slam (Williams played Evgeniya Rodina in the 2018 Wimbledon fourth round), and