• Wimbledon, Day Eight

Venus toppled by inspired Pironkova

Venus Williams was overwhelmed by Tsvetana Pironkova © Getty Images

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Day Eight gallery

Venus Williams was sent crashing out of Wimbledon at the quarter-final stage by an inspired display from Tsvetana Pironkova.

Pironkova came into Wimbledon as a virtual unknown, but took the notable scalp of Marion Bartoli on her way to a clash with five-time winner Williams. The Bulgarian was totally unfazed by the sight of the multiple grand-slam winner over the net as she dominated throughout and claimed a 6-2 6-3 win.

Williams looked to control the contest with her superior power, but she was plagued by inconsistency. A wild drive volley at 3-2 down in the first set put her on the back foot and she pulled a backhand into the tramlines to hand a break to Pironkova.

Pironkova, who had never previously gone beyond the second round at any major, backed up the break with a service hold and the pressure was too much for Williams whose serve went to pieces at 5-2 down. She staved off three set points, but Pironkova converted on the fourth with a glorious backhand pass.

Williams changed her approach at the start of the second set, targeting the forehand of Pironkova, and she secured a break in the third game.

Pironkova was not alarmed by dropping serve and broke back immediately, setting up the game with a glorious running backhand lob. It was a rare sight to see such a dominant force in the game as Williams completely perplexed and she dropped her serve to slip behind in the second set.

Williams saved a couple of match points at 5-2 down but it proved a mere stay of execution as Pironkova served out to claim the biggest win of her career - the match summed up by Williams throwing a simple volley wide on match point.

"Wimbledon has always been like a religion to me," Pironkova said after the match. "I still cannot believe that I reached the semi-finals.

"This is truly like a dream to me, and I will try to enjoy it as much as I can."

Kim Clijsters followed the No. 2 seeded Williams out of the competition, as Vera Zvonareva fought back from a set down to claim a 3-6 6-4 6-2 win. It was a hard-fought contest throughout, but Clijsters edged the first set thanks to a solitary break of serve in the eighth game.

Zvonareva kept her level high and took advantage of Clijsters' troubles on the forehand wing. The No. 8 seed hit 11 unforced errors in the second set compared to just four from Zvonareva as the Russian levelled the match.

Clijsters survived a bombardment in her first service game of the final set but Zvonareva secured a break in the next game and hammered home her dominance to break again and close out the match.

"I'm looking forward to the semi-final and really excited about this game," Zvonareva said. "It's amazing because I have played her a few times and they were always tough matches, but she was just better than me in those days. I was able to hang in and played good tennis.''

Defending champion Serena Williams beat Li Na 7-5 6-3 © Getty Images

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World No. 1 Serena Williams had no such problems as she eased her way past No. 9 seed Li Na in straight sets. The three-time champion had too much power for her Chinese opponent as she secured three separate breaks of serve to seal her spot in the last four with a 7-5 6-3 win.

Na Li played her part in an entertaining first set and resisted the American's heavy hitting to move to within one game of forcing a tiebreak at 6-5. Williams, in characteristically robust style, wiped away her opponent's chances, though, by breaking in the 12th game to steal the set.

Williams' dominance increased in the second set as she sealed breaks in the fifth and seventh games to serve for the match at 5-2. Li prevented the inevitable by breaking back with a two superb baseline winners but any chance of a fightback was unlikely and the defending champion confirmed her seventh appearance in the semi-finals at the All England Club by breaking right back.

"I didn't have a great practice this morning so I was a little bit nervous, especially playing Li Na," Williams said. "She's really good, so I was glad I was able to hang in there. I'm so excited to be in the semi-finals."

World No. 62 Petra Kvitova will be Williams' opponent in the semi-finals after she overcame Estonia's Kaia Kanepi 4-6 7-6(8) 8-6.

The Czech left-hander, who eliminated No. 3 seed Caroline Wozniacki and No. 14 seed Victoria Azarenka to reach the quarter-finals, rode her luck at times as she fought back from losing the first set to seal her progress in two hours 39 minutes. Kanepi passed up five match points in total as she failed to turn a brutally dominant performance into victory and eventually succumbed in a tense final set.

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