Serena, Stephens roll to set up 3rd-round clash

Tennis

Tsvetana Pironkova has pulled off an upset to reach the third round at the US Open, her first tournament after a three-year break to focus on motherhood.

Pironkova, 32, of Bulgaria, who has no ranking because of her layoff, beat No. 10-seeded Garbine Muguruza 7-5, 6-3.

Pironkova left the women’s tour to give birth to her son Alexander in April 2018. She is playing in her 12th Open but her first since 2016, and it’s her first tournament since Wimbledon in 2017. She finished with an ace for her 22nd victory against a top-20 player.

In other second-round matches, Amanda Anisimova won a faceoff of American teenagers, rallying past wild card Katrina Scott 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Anisimova, 19, a surprise semifinalist at the French Open last year, steadied her game in the second set and pulled away.

Scott, 16, is ranked 637th and was coming off her first tour-level victory in the opening round Tuesday, when she made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam. Anisimova, who is seeded 22nd, won the girls’ singles at the Open in 2017.

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