Agnieszka Radwanska reached the first grand slam semi-final of her career as she saw off the challenge of Russian Maria Kirilenko in a late-night finish at Wimbledon.
Despite her mediocre history in the majors, third seed Radwanska can replace Maria Sharapova as world number one if she wins Wimbledon.
She was tied at 4-4 in the deciding set with Kirilenko when play was halted on Court One due to rain.
Almost two hours later they were moved to Centre Court, where Radwanska sealed the set under the roof to secure a 7-5 4-6 7-5 win.
The Pole will next play Germany's Angelique Kerber in the last four on Thursday.
Radwanska said: "I'm just very, very happy. It's the first time I've reached the semi-finals so there are no words to describe how I feel.
"Today for me was like 40 hours. We were on and off all the time.
"It's never easy and especially when the conditions were like this.
"I'm just very happy that after almost three hours I could win.
"I really wanted to finish the match, I think it's better than to wait and come back another day."
The match saw drizzle repeatedly interrupt play.
Radwanska seemed undeterred after the first stoppage, breaking to move 6-5 ahead before serving out for the first set.
Kirilenko, who made the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year, had her serve broken twice during a topsy-turvy second set but made three breaks of her own to secure a decider.
Eight games had passed in the final set before the rain came at 7.45pm, and organisers decided to move the clash to Centre after Victoria Azarenka's quarter-final against Tamira Paszek.
After taking to Centre under the roof at 9.15pm, Kirilenko held to move 5-4 ahead and Radwanska also held before earning three break points in the 11th game.
The world number three broke when Kirilenko went for a needless power shot and the ball cleared the baseline.
Radwanska showed nerves of steel to set up two match points in the following game and once again Kirilenko buckled, piling a forehand well wide.
