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The remarkable Zheng Jie beat 18th seeded teenager Nicole Vaidisova 6-2 5-7 6-1 to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals where she will meet former champion Serena Williams.

Zheng, who upset top seed Ana Ivanovic in the third round, broke Vaidisova twice in the opening set, both times when the Czech 19-year-old double faulted on break point.

Zheng, in turn, saved six break points in the set.

The Chinese, a former world number 27 who came into the tournament ranked 133 after injuries, is the first women's wildcard to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon.

She dropped a set for the first time here when Vaidisova broke her for the second time in the 11th game of the second set and went on to level the match.

It is a first Grand Slam semi-final for Zheng, whose previous best at Wimbledon was reaching the third round in 2004 and whose best Slam performance was the fourth round at the French Open in 2006 before an ankle injury put her out for most of 2007.

The feisty Zheng, whose two-handed backhand hit low over the net is a formidable weapon, was too much to handle for Vaidisova, who had beaten her in their two previous meetings.

The Chinese, who turns 25 on women's final day on Saturday, set up two break points in the second game of the first set and the Czech double faulted on the second.

The same happened in the eighth game when Vaidisova again served a double fault to relinquish the set.

Vaidisova, whose best showings at a Slam came in the semi-finals of the 2007 Australian Open and 2006 French Open, gained consistency in the second set while Zheng tired.

However, Zheng proved the more resilient, racing away with the third set, although she needed a third match point to settle it when the Czech sent a return into the net.

Reuters