Pironkova's road to Wimbledon involved blood, sweat, and tears

London, July 1 (ANI): Tsvetana Pironkova has taken the hard road to Wimbledon's Centre Court.

Her family flogged their car to help fund her Wimbledon dream.

The world No 82 got no help from Bulgaria's national association as a kid and also relied on her artist grand dad selling some of his paintings.

And after an awful 2009, she is now a rising star after beating five-time champion Venus Williams in straight sets on Tuesday ahead of a semi-final today with Vera Zvonareva.

Pironkova, 22, said: "I played badly for a year and didn't know what to do.

"But I never thought of quitting as I love tennis. Now I can hardly believe it, my dream has come true! Beating Venus and now a Wimbledon semi-final! It doesn't get much better.

"I've played Zvonareva once and I beat her rather easily." (ANI)