Kirsten Flipkens is on the cusp of a career turnaround that Hollywood studios would write off as far-fetched after gatecrashing the Wimbledon semi-finals with the greatest win of her life.

The Belgian's career was in the balance last year when she was diagnosed with four blood clots in a calf muscle and told she would be putting her health in serious risk if she boarded a flight to Japan for a Fed Cup tie.

That was in April 2012. Skip ahead 15 months, and Flipkens finds herself in the S19 semis after beating Petra Kvitova 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a dramatic quarter-final.

She now has 2007 runner-up Marion Bartoli to look to tomorrow, with the prospect of Saturday's final hard to ignore at this stage.

A dazed Flipkens said: "I still don't really realise what I've managed to go through today and what I've achieved.

"Last year I didn't get into the qualifying of Wimbledon.

"I was ranked 262nd; today I'm a semi-finalist in a Grand Slam.

"It's a dream – more than a dream – come true. I think I'm the most surprising name in the last four, but I don't really care, to be honest, at this moment.

"I never expected this to happen in my life."

She added: "I feel great with my entourage. Winning on my mum's birthday makes it even more special."

It was some way for mother Carry to celebrate her birthday, and there could be more to toast later in the week.