Zheng Jie's extraordinary journey at the Wimbledon to become the first Chinese to reach the last four of a grand slam singles has reignited the nation's hopes of tennis gold at the Beijing Olympics after a largely dismal 18 months.

Ranked133rd in the world and only in the draw at the All England Club as a wildcard, Zheng beat top seed and world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in the third round, 15th seed Agnes Szavay in the fourth and, on Tuesday, downed 18th seed Nicole Vaidisova in the quarterfinals.

The 24-year-old became the first Chinese to beat a reigning world No. 1 with a 6-1, 6-4 thrashing of Serb Ivanovic in the third round.

Zheng faces twice Wimbledon champion and sixth seed Serena Williams today and if she manages another huge upset would play Saturday's final on her 25th birthday.

"Nothing is impossible," the Chinese team's head coach Jiang Hongwei said. "At least we should not be frightened by the big name. Even if she does not win, she will give Serena a big shock."

Zheng and Williams have only met once before, with the American winning in straight sets in the first round at Wimbledon in 2004.

"I've been watching her play," Serena said. "I think she's doing a fabulous job and I don't think it's luck."

Before Zheng, only Li Na had managed to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2006.

Zheng, who missed most of last year with an ankle injury, is a former Wimbledon and Australian Open doubles champion as well as an Asian Games doubles and singles champion.

"All she's missing is an Olympic gold," read a headline in Titan Sport newspaper. "China's golden flower expected to bloom at the Olympics," added Beijing Youth Daily.