Venus sent crashing out by Pironkova
GIANT-KILLER Tsvetana Pironkova told of her dream come true after sending five-time champion Venus Williams spinning out of Wimbledon.
The unseeded Bulgarian put in the performance of her life, returning everything Williams had to throw at her, to come through 6-2, 6-3 in one of the biggest shocks in SW19 history.
“It seems like a dream,” the 22-year-old said. “Coming here, I never thought I’d play this well and reach this part of the tournament.
“I’m very happy. I think I played pretty well. I’m happy with my game.
“I love this tournament. Every time I come here I enjoy it, the atmosphere and everything. I can imagine people are really happy in Bulgaria and maybe I’ll be on the news there!”
Pironkova now takes on Vera Zvonareva in the battle of semi-final rookies after the Russian, seeded 21, ended Kim Clijsters’ challenge, coming from a set down to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
The Williams family flag will now be flown solely by world No1 Serena, who produced another explosive serving display to beat China’s Na Li 7-5,6-3. Williams blasted 11 aces and beat her tournament record tally for untouched service winners as she continued her search for a fourth Wimbledon title.
She now plays unseeded Petra Kvitova after the Czech starlet saved three match points and came back from 0-4 down in the deciding set to claim an epic 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), 8-6 victory over world No62 Kaia Kanepi.
l British men’s No1 Andy Murray is back in action on Centre Court today when he takes on 10th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in search of a second successive Wimbledon semi-final.