American fifth seed Williams, the singles champion in 2000 and, at 36, the oldest woman in the draw, lost to Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) in a three-hour centre court marathon.
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The sports superstar is gearing up for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil and she admits that despite her many years in tennis her appetite for success has far from waned.
But against Flipkens, who was making her Olympic debut, Williams failed to find the right measure on most of her strokes and wound up with 13 fewer winners.
“Honestly, I think a little bit it takes some pressure off, knowing that I’ve won a gold medal (in singles)”, she said.
This year, Williams is expected to win gold again in the Doubles competition teaming up with her sister Venus Williams.
Partnering Venus in their quest for a fourth women’s doubles Olympic gold, the Williams siblings could bump into the Indian pair of Sania Mirza and Prarthna Thombare.
Serena will be participating this coming Saturday [August 6] in two Olympic Events in Rio: Tennis Women’s singles and Tennis Women’s doubles. They will be competing against Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova.
Furious at her circumstances, the generally mild-mannered Radwanska smashed her racket after the uncharacteristic premature loss.
Vandeweghe says she’s fully recovered from a frightening ankle injury last month at a tournament in California in which she had to be wheeled off the court.
“She’s a great doubles player who knows how to win Grand Slam titles”. I would be highly surprised if she didn’t play, because this has been her goal for the last four years, to come back to the Olympics.
World No. 1 Serena begins her singles title defense Sunday against Australia’s Daria Gavrilova, while men’s champion Andy Murray starts his campaign against Serbia’s Viktor Troicki. “And then there’s the Olympics”, she said. In beating Caroline Wozniaki in the quarters and Victoria Azarenka in the semis, both in straight sets, the final was anti-climactic. Still, she claimed to be charged-up and free of any emotional hangover from a summer that has included a run to the French Open finals and Wimbledon singles and doubles crowns at age 34. “But she fought. She gave it her best out there”. “I’m happy to win my first match”.
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Germany’s Kerber, who won the 2016 Australian Open, dispatched Colombia’s Mariana Duque-Marino in two sets 6-3 7-5 but also struggled with wind after a long delay to her match.
