Williams lost 6-4 6-3 to Svitolina, ranked 20th in the world.
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“The feeling is unreal. That will be a really good match and I look forward to it”, Williams said. “I really had to figure out a way to adjust”. She managed the match well, allowing Williams the opportunity to defeat herself.
Williams briefly rallied to break back at 3-3 but her calamitous seventh game sealed her fate.
Muhammad became the first American athlete Monday to compete in the Olympics with a hijab, which she wears to adhere to the tenets of her Muslim faith. Williams then flung the racket so far behind her that it landed in the lap of a TV cameraman filming the match.
“It’s wonderful, and one of my dreams to play against her”.
GRIEVING COACH LEADS US: Adam Krikorian returned to the pool deck for his first game since his brother’s sudden death last week to coach the U.S.to an 11-4 win over Spain in water polo. “This is just a ideal moment”, said Svitolina. “You have to hit about three or four more shots or just play a little bit better”.
Williams will not be earning her third consecutive Olympic gold medal anymore.
As the brackets slim down and lesser competitors are eliminated, many draws feature big-name match-ups. Cornet held a pair of set points in the opener but failed to convert either.
Williams was hampered by multiple errors and a shoulder injury, at one point, screaming in pain.
No tennis player ever has won two Olympic singles golds – let alone two in a row. “Just play the ball and go for it”.
She entered the night with a 4-0 record against Svitolina.
Williams was also knocked out of doubles competition earlier this week, along with her sister Venus. “Every time I play her, I’m not in my best shape”. She had advanced to the final of this year’s Australian Open and French Open, but lost to Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Garbine Muguruza.
But those hoping to catch Serbia’s World No. 1 men’s singles player – Novak Djokovic, who’s looking to complete the elusive career golden Slam – will have to wait until the evening.
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Del Potro eventually ran out of steam when he and Maximo Gonzalez lost their men’s doubles second round tie to Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez 3-6, 7-5, 2-6.
