NEW YORK, NY, USA -- Golfing legend Tiger Woods has been full of praise for his good friend Serena Williams during the 2018 US Open, as the American tennis superstar and new mom will go for her 24th Grand Slam singles title on Saturday following her Thursday night semifinal victory over Anastasija Sevastova.

"What she’s doing is truly remarkable," Woods told the press, following his second-round performance at the BMW Championship in Pennsylvania on Friday. "Having a child, and having all the duties of a mother, and trying to come back and trying to play at the elite level, and she’s doing it."

Woods, a long-time World No.1 whose 14 major championships put him second on the all-time list behind only Jack Nicklaus, remarked upon Williams' swift return to top play at the big events with awe. "That’s, what, back-to-back [Grand Slam] finals? That’s pretty impressive."

Earlier in the week, Woods was already excited for Serena's return to New York after the birth of her daughter Olympia, and had his eye on her third-round match against her trail-blazing big sister Venus.

"It’s never easy for them to play against one another," Woods mused to the press, regarding the sister act. "They root for each other so hard and they love each other so much. But when they have to play it’s not easy on either one of them. Especially at this late stage in their careers they know that these aren’t going to happen very often. And someone has to move on.”

"I think we both have had some nice comebacks this year,” said Woods, who has rebounded from an injury-blighted past few years to finish in the top 10 of the season's last two majors -- his first top 10 finishes at golf's most prestigious events since 2013.

Williams knows what her friend has been through as he makes his way back into the elite of his sport, and she can relate and find inspiration while she blasts her way back into the Top 20 following her outstanding final-round performances at Wimbledon and the US Open.

"I feel like [Woods] is on his way back," Williams said during her post-semifinal press conference. "He's been coming back from all his back issues. It's been a disaster. But, boy, he never gave up. It's inspiring, actually. I don't think a lot of people really know how bad it was. I'm not at liberty to talk about it."

"But it definitely makes me realize that, okay, we are definitely going to be -- I can definitely do my best if he can, too," Williams concluded.