Tennis: Zahlavova-Strycova books semifinal clash with star Dane

Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova on the way to beating Coco Vandeweghe yesterday to qualify for a semifinal spot. Photo / Getty Images

Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova is instantly memorable. She's the girl with the longest name on the WTA tour - and possibly the shortest temper.

The Czech player may lack the profile of other names at the ASB Classic but she has distinguished herself this week, with three solid wins to reach the last four.

But she's also been noticeable for her frequent emotional outbursts. On Wednesday against Marina Erakovic she received a code violation for swearing - although she claimed (in vain) to the chair umpire that she said "freaking", rather than another f-word.

She lost her cool on several other occasions and yesterday battled demons again in her 6-4, 7-5 quarter-final win over Coco Vandeweghe - which booked a semifinal clash today with top seed Caroline Wozniacki - stamping around the court in exasperation when things went wrong.

"I lost many matches because of my emotions," Zahlavova-Strycova said. "I'm working on it with my mental coach and with myself especially. It's hard because I have always been like this and being emotional on court doesn't help - never actually."

The 29-year-old is remarkably frank about her shortcomings - in a way that not many players are.

"I have a lot of passion for this life and this sport but sometimes it can get you into trouble," she explained. "You have to know where the limit is [but] I will always be an emotional player ... I will never be a calm person outside and on the court."

However, you can't question Zahlavova-Strycova's ability or courage. She's only 1.65m and lacks the big weapons of many of her peers but has iron-clad belief and a remarkable ability to lift her game when it matters most, as she demonstrated again yesterday against Vandeweghe. After a decade on the tour - mostly ranked between 50 and 100 - she broke into the top 25 for the first time last November.

Despite her rise to prominence, she admits that wherever she goes in the world, everybody struggles with her name. "In America [especially] they don't know how to say it but that's okay. I think it is the longest name on the tour."

What about shortening your name? "Maybe I will, yeah ... maybe 'BZS'."