Only one marquee name in Wimbledon semis

LONDON, June 30 (UPI) -- It's Serena Williams and the three surprises headed to the women's Wimbledon singles semifinals.

Williams, as the defending Wimbledon champion and the No. 1-ranked woman player in the world, was expected to be around for Thursday's semifinals at the All England Club but the supporting cast is comprised of players mostly new to such a lofty tennis stage.

In addition to Williams, the semifinals involve 21st-ranked Vera Zvonareva, No. 62 Petra Kvitova and 82nd-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova.

When the draw was announced, the first expectation was that Serena Williams would again -- for the third year in a row -- be meeting her sister Venus, No. 2 in the rankings, in the final. That isn't going to happen after her upset by Pironkova.

Third-seeded Carolina Wozniacki and No. 4 Jelena Jankovic had been playing well over the last year but were out after the fourth round at Wimbledon. There were also the recently unretired Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin but they played each other in the fourth round with Clijsters winning. Then Clijsters went out in the quarterfinals versus Zvonareva.

But by the time Wednesday's quarterfinals ended, Serena Williams was the only real familiar name left on the draw. She'll play Kvitova in Thursday's semis. They've met once before with Williams taking a 6-2, 6-1 win at the 2010 Australian Open. This is Kvitova's first venture beyond the fourth round of a major tournament.

The other semi has Zvonareva, who was a Top 10 player before an ankle injury limited her play, going against Pironkova. Wimbledon marks Zvonareva's second major semifinal appearance; Pironkova had never reached the third round of a major before. They have played once with Pironkova winning 6-0, 6-2 last year in Moscow.

Thursday's winners advance to the Wimbledon title match Saturday. A Wimbledon championship is worth $1.5 million this year with the runner-up taking home $750,000. Thursday's semifinal losers will settle for $375,000.