Venus, Clijsters crash out of Wimbledon

Venus Williams crashed out of the Wimbledon quarter-finalstoday while Kim Clijsters also fell, making Serena Williams' path to a fourth title much clearer.

Venus, a five-time Wimbledon champion and the world number two, was knocked out 6-2, 6-3 by Bulgaria's unseeded Tsvetana Pironkova, the world number 82 and the lowest-ranked player left in the draw. Pironkova has never been past the second round here before.

And Belgian eighth seed Kim Clijsters, the reigning US Open champion, was downed in three sets by Russia's 21st seed Vera Zvonareva 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Pironkova and Zvonareva will now face off in tomorrow's semi-finals.

In the other quarter-finals, defending champion and world number one Serena Williams takes on Chinese ninth seed Li Na, and Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic faces Estonian qualifier Kaia Kanepi.

On winning the match, Pironkova fell to the grass in delight, while Venus looked stunned as she trudged off Court One.

"It seems like a dream actually. Coming here I never thought I would play that well and reach that part of the tournament. I am extremely happy," Pironkova said.

"I think I played pretty well. I'm very happy with my game. She also did well but I have one win over her and actually thought I could win and I was going for it."

This year will be the first time Venus Williams has not been in the final here since 2006. The American has made eight of the last 10 women's singles finals here.

Clijsters, the former world number one, won the first set but Zvonareva hit back to take the match on Centre Court.

"It's amazing," the Russian said after her first victory over the Belgian in six attempts.

"I was able to hang in there and play some good tennis out there.

"Right now I think women's tennis is at a very high level and there is a lot of competition and a lot of girls are playing great."

Clijsters could not hide her dejection.

"I'm disappointed. It's too bad I wasn't able to come up with my best at the important time in the match. She did. She was very consistent, didn't give me any easy mistakes. I gave her a few too many.

"She served very well at the important points. But I never really made her work for it all that much. That's probably the most disappointing thing for me."

Serena Williams said she was expecting a battle from Chinese number one Li, who has beaten her once and taken her to tie breaks in all their other four clashes.

"Li Na always gives me a run for my money. I just have to be positive and play more consistent," the American top seed said.

"She gives everyone a run for her money. She's such a tough player. She never gives up. Right when you think you have her, she comes back. She's a player you cannot count out."

The surprise quarter-final is between world number 62 Kvitova and world number 80 Kanepi, who have one tour title between them.

Aged 20, Kvitova is the youngest player left in the women's draw. She fell at the first round at her previous two Wimbledons, and had never won on grass before going on this run.

Kanepi had never been past the Wimbledon second round before this year.

The 25-year-old is only the sixth qualifier to reach the Wimbledon women's quarter-finals.

"Kanepi is playing very well right now," Kvitova said.

"We played already three times. Two I lost and one I won. It will be tough, but the match is open."