Venus Williams Knocked Out of Wimbledon

There will be no all-Williams battle for the women’s singles championship at Wimbledon this year. Five-time champion Venus Williams was booted out of the tournament in the quarterfinals after losing to Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova, who is ranked no.82 in the world.

Williams was out of sink against Pironkova, who took advantage of the American second seed’s 29 unforced errors en route to a 6-2, 6-3 victory. Williams could only shrug her shoulders as she sprayed balls all over the court. “I missed all shots today: forehand, volley, backhand. You know, if there was a shot to miss, I think I missed it.”

Meanwhile, top seed and defending champion Serena Williams did not have the same problems as her sister had, as she cruised into the semifinals with a victory over ninth seed Li Na of China, 7-5, 6-3. Serena will next face world no.62 Petra Kvitova, who won a battle of wills against qualifier Kaia Kanepi, 4-6, 7-6, 8-6.

Pironkova, on the other hand, will try to reach the final when she takes on Russia’s Vera Zvonareva, who stunned the comebacking Kim Clijsters of Belgium, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.