Mother of all wins!
Serena defeats fellow mom, advances to Open semis
Matched against a fellow new mom, Serena Williams needed a comeback to advance to another Open semifinal. The tennis great was down a set and a break before overpowering underdog Tsvetana Pironkova on Wednesday at Flushing, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. It was the third consecutive threeset match for Williams at the Open, as her run through the bracket has been much more of a roller-coaster than her typical steamroller.
“I’m okay (with how I’m playing),” Williams said. “I’m ready to play three sets every match if I have to. It doesn’t matter. A win is a win.”
Williams, who needs one more Grand Slam title to match Margaret Court ’s
record of 24, will face the winner of Wednesday night’s match between Victoria Azarenka and Elise Bertens. Williams has advanced to 11 consecutive Open semis, excluding the tournaments she skipped in 2010 and 2017. A potential rematch against Naomi Osaka looms for the final, but nothing is given for Williams these days.
On Wednesday, Williams, seeded third, looked vulnerable while dropping the first set in 41 minutes. She went down a break immediately in the second, but recovered and buried Pironkova a little over two hours. The key was her serve. Williams, perhaps the
strongest women’s tennis player of all-time, had 20 aces. Pironkova had 4 and felt helpless.
“It’s very hard to resist against a strength like that. I’m not sure how many miles an hour was her serve, but it felt like a bomb at one p o i n t ,” Pironkova said. “I think I tried everything… At the same time I started to feel a bit tired.”
Indeed, Pironkova played with less energy in the second and third sets. Her shots lost their power, their spirit. Williams pounced.
“The first set I think I was in control of the match. I was doing all kinds of shots, and everything went in my way,” Pironkova said. “But, you know, I was expecting it’s not going to last forever. I was expecting that she’s going to try different things and she’s going to put more power in her shots, and that’s what she did.
“Her serve, obviously an incredible weapon.”
This Open represents Pironkova’s first tournament in over two years, or since her hiatus due to the birth of her son in 2018. Even before the absence, the Bulgarian hadn’t advanced past the fourth round at Flushing in 11 attempts. But apparently motherhood suits Pironkova’s game. The 32-year-old toppled two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza in the second round, and it’s gave Williams an earnest run.
Williams gave birth to her baby girl about seven months before Pirovonka but took off less than a year. She has yet to win a Grand Slam since returning at the end of 2017. Williams saluted Pirovonka after the match for her fight and their shared experience.
“If you can birth a baby, you can do anything. We saw that with Tsvetana today. She played unbelievable. I could barely win a match when I came back,” said Williams, who lost an exhibition to Jelena Ostapenko in her first match after giving birth. “I am happy to just be here standing and talking with you. I was like one point from not being here. I just kept fighting and never gave up. You got to keep going.”