Wimbledon will have a new Grand Slam finalist on the women’s side this year. A few shocking matches took place at the Wimbledon ladies’ singles quarterfinals in late June, and expected heavyweights like Kim Clijsters (8 seed), Jelena Jankovic (4 seed), Caroline Wozniacki (3 seed) and Venus Williams (2 seed) all shocked tennis nation by exiting the 2010 tournament early.

Most surprising in recent tennis action was Venus Williams’ fall from grace in the quarters to Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova, the world No. 82 rank. Pironkova, who had never in 18 previous Grand Slams made it past the second round of tournament play, soundly thumped Williams in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. Williams never got the chance to slide into her usual groove during the quarterfinals match against Pironkova, and she ended the day committing 29 unforced errors and had five double-faults serving. This marked the second time 22-year-old Pironkova has defeated Williams, the last being in the first round of the Australian Open in 2006.

While sister Serena Williams will now be expected to carry the family name into the finals, Venus wasn’t alone in an unexpected quarterfinals defeat. Belgian netter Kim Clijsters also fell to an electrically charged Vera Zvonareva of Bulgaria, losing the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Zvonareva was a long shot to beat Clijsters, who is on the rise after coming out of retirement, especially after Clijsters’ convincing win over fellow Belgian Justine Henin in the fourth round.

Another struggling player in the quarterfinals was WTA No. 4 Caroline Wozniacki, who was whipped 6-2, 6-0 by 62nd ranked Czech Petra Kvitova. Wozniacki’s subpar performance against Kvitova ended in a massacre against the 19-year-old Dane, and her ranking is sure to drop after the embarrassing quarterfinals defeat.

Fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Brand Viagra Serbia also bowed out in the fourth round of Wimbledon action after falling on her back during a match with Vera Zvonareva (who went on to beat Clijsters in the quarters). Jankovic retired with injury after a lengthy visit with the trainer, ultimately trailing the match 6-1, 3-0.

No matter how many celebrated players are already out of the Wimbledon Championships this year, however, the ladies’ singles tournament is still stacked with big names that sell tennis tickets on a regular basis. The women’s semifinals will feature Serena Williams against Czech Petro Kvitova on one side of the draw and Russian Vera Zvonareva versus Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in the other.

Williams is out to defend her 2009 Wimbledon title, which she earned after beating her sister last year in the finals. Serena Williams already has two Wimbledon Championship titles under her belt, and perhaps this year will mark lucky number three for the American tennis star.

While she’s the favorite going into the semifinals, Williams isn’t getting ahead of herself on the court. According to kansascity.com, the No. 1 seed spoke about the Grand Slam title, saying, “It’s not mine to lose, it’s mine to win if I can get it. There’s three other people that are vying to win it. They have just as good a chance as I do.”
Will Serena Williams dominate in the finals once again or will Wimbledon crown a new female champion this year? It’s all to come as the oldest tennis tournament in the world continues at the All England Club.

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