22-year-old Bulgarian tennis player Tsvetana Pironkova shocked the tennis world earlier today when she defeated second-seeded Venus Williams in the quarter finals of Wimbledon 6-2, 6-3. Five-time Wimbledon champ Venus joins a slew of other upset victims in this year’s tournament as 82nd-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova moves on to play 21st-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia, who rallied past Kim Clijsters 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
“Honestly, I think no one expected me to play semifinal in Wimbledon and to beat Venus Williams like that,” Pironkova stated after the match. “Coming here I really just wanted to play a good game, to maybe win one or two rounds. I still cannot believe that I reached the semifinals. This is truly like a dream to me.”
Amazingly, this marks the second time that Pironkova has defeated Venus Williams. She made headlines in 2006 when she upset Williams in the opening round of the Australian Open 2–6, 6–0, 9–7.
Here are some more photos from the historic match with Venus and some bonus action shots of the sexy Tsvetana Pironkova from previous tournaments:
Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria celebrates a point against Venus Williams of the US in their quarter final match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 29 June 2010.
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Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria returns to Venus Williams of the US during their quarter final match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 29 June 2010.
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Tsvetana Pironkova produced a brilliant display to shock second seed Venus Williams in the quarter-finals.
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Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria celebrates her victory over Venus Williams of the US in their quarter final match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 29 June 2010.
Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria (L) celebrates winning her Quarter Final match against Venus Williams of USA (R) on Day Eight of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 29, 2010 in London, England. (Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images)
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TSVETANA PICTURES FROM PREVIOUS MATCHES:
Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria in Action at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open Miami.
Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria returns a shot to Sara Errani of Italy during day four of the Brisbane International 2009 at the State Tennis Centre on January 7, 2009 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria reacts after a point during her second round match against Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia on day four of the Australian Open 2008 at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2008 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria takes on Justine Henin of Belgium during their first round match for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 25 May 2010.
(All photos: ZUMA Press unless otherwise noted)
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