This marks their first loss.
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Venus and Serena entered the match an unblemished 15-0 in the Olympics, claiming the gold medal in women’s doubles every time they stepped on the court: 2000 in Sydney, 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London. While the Williams sisters were able to match the Czechs nearly point-for-point in the second set – even leading 4-3 after a controversial call – they couldn’t sustain the momentum.
Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro reacts after winning his men’s first round singles tennis match against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic at the Olympic Tennis Centre of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 7, 2016.
The American duo was seeded No. 1 and coming off a 14th Grand Slam championship together at Wimbledon. It wasn’t to be though as they lost three games in a row thereafter and were dumped out of the doubles event at the Olympics. They are unseeded in Rio. The gusts ripped apart a large decorative panel on the swimming venue and even shut down shopping at the megastore – essentially an enormous tent – inside the Olympic Park.
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza romped to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Romania’s Andreea Mutu who was a late replacement for Jelena Jankovic who withdrew with a shoulder injury.
But she didn’t want to use that as an excuse against the Fed Cup champions.
According to coach Mary Joe Fernandez, Venus has been struggling with a virus – and she looked out of sorts in both her singles and doubles matches.
Earlier on Sunday, Serena crushed Australia’s Daria Gavrilova 6-3 6-2 in her first round singles match, a day after Venus was eliminated by Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens. Fernandez also said Venus was dealing with cramping, dehydration and an upset stomach after Saturday’s loss.
However, U.S. Tennis Association spokesman Tom LaDue told The Associated Press earlier in the day that Williams felt better and was able to compete.
In the doubles, played under the lights, when occasional chants of “USA!” would rise from some spectators, other members of the crowd would respond with boos.
Safarova and Strycova did their best to keep hitting shots toward Venus when she was at the baseline. By comparison, Safarova and Strycova recorded 26 winners.
But Williams broke right back in the next game to take the set.
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Safarova is a strong doubles player, and she won two major titles in 2015 with Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the U.S.
