One destroyed racket – and one poor set – later, Serena Williams made it safely into the third round of the Rio Olympics as she bids for a second consecutive singles gold medal. Williams then sealed the 6-4, 6-2 win thanks to a final backhand error from the Australian.
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“I just needed to relax”. The 34-year-old grew increasingly frustrated as the match wore on but was rarely threatened by Gavrilova on centre court.
“It feels good to win my first match”, Williams said. But then she dropped 5 of 6 games to fall behind 5-4. But Williams broke right back in the next game. Gavrilova saved the first two to put things back at deuce. He’ll appear on Centre Court to play Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro in a rematch of the London 2012 Games Bronze Medal Match – which the Argentine won.
Williams had not competed since collecting her Open-era record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.
Williams’ older sister Venus was stunned in the first round by Kirsten Flipkens on Saturday and the three-time defending doubles champions will begin the defense of their crown later on Sunday against Czech pair Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova. But Williams would soon earn a third match point.
That’s because Williams cut down on her mistakes in the second set.
Heavy wind blew for much of the match, which led to both players taking a bit off their serves and seeming a bit out of sorts. “If it’s going out, maybe I’m hitting it a little bit too flat”.
Serena Williams, of the United States, yells on a return against Daria Gavrilova, of Australia, at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016. Four of her five double faults came in the opening frame, and she was visibly angered at times. In the tiebreaker, Cornet went ahead 5-4 before Williams claimed the next three points and the set.
“She knows how to play me”, Williams said.
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. “No one wants to go out in the first round”.
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“Early on it was super windy, and it was a survival of just who could get the ball in; it wasn’t quality tennis because of the odd and tough conditions”.
