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It’s all about moms at US Open quarter-finals

US’s Serena Williams (in pic), Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova and Belarus’s Victoria Azarenka have made the cut. USA TODAY SPORTS
Rutvick Mehta

letters@hindustantimes.com

Mumbai : In an Instagram post on March 11, Tsvetana Pironkova made public her intention of returning to professional tennis for the first time since 2017. For Pironkova, her comeback had something bigger and better in store. Playing in her first tournament in over three years after becoming a mother in 2018, the Bulgarian has stormed into the quarter-finals of this US Open.

Pironkova is one of the three moms in the last-eight of women’s singles in New York, a first in any Grand Slam, along with American Serena Williams and Belarus’s Victoria Azarenka.

“Once you become a mother you don’t magically lose your ability to play,” Pironkova said after her opening round win. “If you want to do it I don’t think there’s something that can stop you from doing it.”

Like it hasn’t stopped Williams, Pironkova’s quarter-final opponent, from continuing to pursue her quest for a record-equalling 24th major title.

For 31-year-old Azarenka, who is chasing her first major since 2013, motherhood has only made her a better tennis player. “You become a different person. You don’t focus on yourself that much anymore—your focus is primarily on your child. And I guess that’s a good thing… Mentally, I have more endurance also,” she said