Rio de Janeiro – Women’s world No. 1 Serena Williams joined men’s top-ranked Novak Djokovic on the sidelines as the upsets continued Tuesday at the Olympic tennis tournament in Rio. In a pivotal seventh game that was all about Williams, the top seed hit two aces but then also five double faults as she struggled with her serve. Afterward, a tearful Szogedi said she was “gutted”. “I was staying in the moment”.
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Williams rebounded to win her 22nd career Grand Slam at Wimbledon, tying Steffi Graf for most all-time in the Open Era.
“I really didn’t think about it even when I was 40-30 and I won finally the match”, said Svitolina.
Venus lost in the opening round of the singles to Kirsten Flipkens while the sisters lost their first ever Olympic doubles match on Sunday.
Williams missed last month’s Rogers Cup in Canada with inflammation of the shoulder, and here she looked uncomfortable throughout the second set.
Frustration during the first set of her second-round match against Alize Cornet had driven her to smash her racquet on a bench, but she recovered to win that match in straight sets. Crazily enough, she’s the second-highest seed remaining. However, she did not fail to recognize that the better player has won. At one point in the game that ended with her getting broken to trail 4-3, Williams leaned forward and tapped her racket twice against the court. “I have doubles and mixed (with Nadal) so I want to make sure I am not left with this bad taste”, said the Spaniard. “It didn’t work out the way I wanted to, but at least I was able to make it to Rio”. That was one of my goals.
Williams was the defending champion having won gold in London four years ago, while Spanish third seed Muguruza ranked among the favourites in Brazil following her French Open triumph earlier this year. “This is just a flawless moment”.
Tennis stars are eliminates one by one from Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Svitolina was smart and in control, committing only 17 unforced errors.
First, the third-seeded Spaniard takes on Italy’s Andreas Seppi, boasting a 6-1 career lead.
“Being in the moment”.
“Not much pressure for me”, Nadal said.
In the final game, Williams fell behind 0-40 on her serve.
Svitolina will next play two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
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USA swimming legend Michael Phelps’s 21st Olympic gold medal by winning the 200m butterfly final and the men’s 4x200m relay final. But at the end of the day, singles is what most players are recalled for and losing in singles will always bother Serena more.
