Zheng grabs limelight in Willians show

By Martyn Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - Chinese wildcard Zheng Jie provided an absorbing sub-plot to Williams sister domination on quarter-final day at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

Zheng beat Czech Nicole Vaidisova 6-2 5-7 6-1 to become the first Chinese player to reach a grand slam singles semi-final and the first woman to go so far at Wimbledon after requiring a special invitation from the All England Club.

During an unpredictable tournament riddled with shocks the one constant has been the ruthless efficiency of Venus and Serena Williams and now they look odds on to contest their third Wimbledon final here on Saturday.

Venus, champion here four times and twice runner-up to her younger sister, was engaged longer than expected in beating Thai surprise Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-4 6-3 before Serena made mincemeat of Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 6-0.

Serena will play Zheng in the semi-finals while Venus must get past fifth seed Elena Dementieva after she survived a mid-match wobble to beat fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 6-1 6-7 6-3 and reach Wimbledon's last four for the first time.

"I was like, Oops, I did it again; I'm out of the semi-finals," Dementieva, who lost to Dinara Safina in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros this year after having a match point, told reporters.

"I was so tight. I suddenly started to think about the French Open quarter-finals and it was difficult (to get that out of my head). It was so exhausting."

Dementieva threw away a 5-1 lead in the second set but instead of capitulating as she did against Safina she managed to steady her nerves and regain control.