Original Blog Entry: Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams upset in quarterfinals

NBey6 — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:56:47 GMT

Updated: June 29, 2010, 10:42 AM ET

Venus eliminated in quarterfinal

ESPN.com news services

WIMBLEDON, England -- Five-time champion Venus Williams was eliminated in the Wimbledon quarterfinals Tuesday, losing 6-2, 6-3 to unseeded Tsvetana Pironkova.

Pironkova, the first Bulgarian woman to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, will face Russia's Vera Zvonareva, who upset Kim Clijsters 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

This is the second time in three matches Pironkova, 22, has defeated Williams. She also beat her in the first round of the 2006 Australian Open. Pironkova has never moved past the second round in 18 previous Grand Slam appearances.

Pironkova, playing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, broke Williams twice in the first set and on consecutive chances in the fourth and sixth games of the second.

The second-ranked Williams, who had reached the Wimbledon final in eight of the past 10 years, was undone by 29 unforced errors and five double-faults against an opponent ranked 80 spots below her.

Zvonareva, seeded 21st, came back from a set down to win her second match point when Clijsters netted a forehand.

Clijsters, the No. 8 seed, won the first set after breaking the Russian in the eighth game, when Zvonareva had two forehand errors and a double-fault.

But the Belgian was broken four times by Zvonareva in the final two sets, putting the Russian into her first semifinal at the All England Club.

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