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PARIS -- Less than 24 hours after the biggest win of her career, Nicole Vaidisova isn't too weary to lose her sense of humor.
When her agent is asked how he first came upon the rising Czech Republic star, she interjects with a hearty laugh and quips, "At a garage sale."
No one would argue she's not a find.
The 17-year-old announced her arrival this week at the French Open with wins against reigning Wimbledon champ Venus Williams and top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo.
Her victory against Williams set up today's semifinal against No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, her first last four at a major.
"I'm very happy and a little surprised," says Vaidisova, who was 2-3 on clay this spring before winning a tuneup event last month in Strasbourg.
Vaidisova, seeded 16th, has been on the radar since finishing in the top 100 in 2004. She hit her stride last fall when she won 18 consecutive matches and claimed consecutive titles in Seoul, Tokyo and Bangkok.
That gave her five career titles, putting her in an elite group of players -- Tracy Austin, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis -- who won five tournaments before their 17th birthday.
On the game's grandest stages, however, Vaidisova's big serve and power game had yet to shine, though she has played only seven majors. Before Paris, the furthest she had advanced in a major was the fourth round.
"Obviously we are very excited about results on clay," says her stepfather and coach, Alex Kodat. "It is a big jump from (the) second round last year."
Tall, blond, Eastern European and Nick Bollettieri-trained since age 12, Vaidisova has traveled a familiar path to tennis stardom. She is used to the comparisons.
"I don't really bother if people are comparing me to somebody, you know," she said this week, insisting as always that she is her own person despite the similarities to players such as Maria Sharapova and Anna Kournikova. Both left Russia to hone their skills at Bollettieri's academy in Florida, where Vaidisova now spends most of the year.
Unlike Sharapova, who is more at home with her American upbringing (she moved to Florida at 7), German-born Vaidisova remains fiercely loyal to her Czech roots.
"Of course, you get a little bit of the American mentality ... but I would never, ever consider myself American," she says. "I'm very proud of my country, and I'm always very honored to play for it in Fed Cup."
Besides tennis, Vaidisova enjoys reading (she lists Dan Brown, John Grisham and James Patterson as favorites), speaks three languages (Czech, English and German) and follows the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning. She is friendly with two of the team's Czech players, Vaclav Prospal and Pavel Kubina.
She might joke about being picked up at a rummage sale, but there is no junk in Vaidisova's percussive strokes. Besides going toe-to-toe with Williams, one of the game's biggest hitters, she demonstrated poise and fearlessness in knocking off French opponents Aravane Rezai and Mauresmo in front of partisan crowds.
"I just don't like to keep playing the rally for 10 minutes," says Vaidisova, whose uncle is former pro Daniel Vacek. "I like to hit winners. I play fast."
She credits part of her sudden rise to tempering her sometimes-volatile emotions. In last year's U.S. Open, Vaidisova smashed a ball into the stands that nearly hit a fan after blowing a 5-0 first-set lead in a fourth-round loss to Nadia Petrova.
"I don't think you can play tennis with no emotion," she says. "Of course every match is going to have some negative emotions. Nobody is superman."
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