They had won the gold medal in women’s doubles every time they entered the event: in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
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While Serena is still alive in the women’s singles competition after beating Daria Gavrilova earlier Sunday, Venus has played her last match in these Summer Olympics. “I told myself before just go for it 200 percent and enjoy, and this fantastic crowd helped me so much to go through this match”.
“We played awful”, Serena said, “and it showed in the results”.
But Safarova and Strycova again pounced on Venus in her next service game, breaking to serve for the match. Venus, 36, has two first-round exits at the Rio Olympics because she was beaten in singles Saturday.
But another veteran, 35-year-old Martina Hingis, playing in her first Olympics in 20 years, made it through to the second round of the women’s doubles.
The Williams sisters came to Rio with a flawless 15-0 record in Olympic doubles, having captured three gold medals in Sydney, Beijing, and London.
With U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry watching from a second-row seat behind a baseline, the fifth-seeded Williams wasted a 4-1 lead in the final set and was broken while serving for the victory at 5-3.
“To beat Venus Williams on the centre court, one of the biggest champions in our history, that [gave me] goosebumps all over the place”, she said.
But Williams broke right back in the next game.
“I was getting really exhausted in the second set”, the 22-year-old said.
She will play Alize Cornet in the second round after the French player overcame Sweden’s Johanna Larsson.
The world likely forgave her after she clinched a haul of gold medals in Beijing and London for both singles and doubles tennis. The three-time gold medalists weren’t just knocked out in the first round – they were completely shut out! They were up against Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova.
Team USA has fared better in doubles, aside from the Williams’s noticeable loss, as Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and CoCo Vandeweghe were victorious in their first-round doubles match.
“I just played point after point, keep focusing, keep believing”. Her opponent will be France’s Caroline Garcia next, who won in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 against local player Teliana Pereira.
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But the size of crowds did not bother Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who opened the men’s singles tennis tournament on centre court by knocking out Spain’s Albert Ramos-Viñolas easily, winning 6-2 6-4 in two sets.
