Tsvetana Pironkova stuns Donna Vekic as surprise run at US Open continues

Tsvetana Pironkova continued her shock run at the US Open by eliminating 18th seed Donna Vekic, 6-4, 6-1.

The Bulgarian is playing her first tournament in three years, beginning her return after a period of maternity leave and entering on her special ranking - a rule that allows new mothers the chance to get back to the tour based on their previous record.

In the last round she knocked out Gabrine Muguruza of Spain, the tenth seed.

And she revealed after the match that she had considered not returning to tennis at all.

"There was a time maybe for one-and-a-half, two years after I became a mum where I didn't really picture coming back to the tour at all," she told reporters.

"I was, you know, happy with the moment, just wanted to live through everything, through this new exciting times in my life.

"But then I started thinking about tennis more and more. Also having this opportunity of the special ranking gives you more motivation, as well, because you're not starting from scratch, as we can see. My first tournament is actually main draw in US Open. That is a huge opportunity.

"At one point I was like, I do not want to miss that opportunity, I'm going to start training, I'm going to do everything I can, and it's going to be different this time because, first and before all, I kind of enjoy it because tennis is before all a game. It's interesting, exciting, and super cool game that you can have a lot of fun playing. That is what I'm trying to do."