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Seeded Serena Williams ousted in stunning upset

Williams, who won gold metals in singles and doubles in the 2012 London Olympic Games, will leave Rio with no medals. But she clearly didn’t carry the same form to the Olympics, as she never looked comfortable on these slow hard courts even in two earlier singles victories.

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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.

The entire contest lasted 72 minutes.

Svitolina was able to capitalize on an uncharacteristically sloppy match from Williams, who had 37 unforced errors and eight double faults. “The better player today won”.

“I was trying to be focused because she is a great player”, Svitolina told NBC Sports following the match. “It was awesome, but it’s over now”. Serena and Venus exited the doubles tournament in the first round, losing to Czech pair Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova. Now, Serena has been eliminated from Rio competition entirely.

The 21-year-old was born in Odessa, and was introduced to tennis at a young age by her family, according to her Women’s Tennis Association bio.

“I didn’t expect that I could win”.

According to the Post, observers noticed that Williams appeared to be struggling with a shoulder injury.

“I didn’t find a way to beat her but I am over it”.

Williams is not the only top seed to succumb in Rio.

Williams’ defeat followed a first round loss for men’s world number one Novak Djokovic. The Serbian got beat by Juan Del Potro of Argentina in the first round of the competition. This marked his first marquee win since his comeback on the tour.

Plenty of illuminating star power for the Rio Games on Tuesday.

However, there were no such problems for defending men’s champion Andy Murray and 2008 victor Rafael Nadal who coasted into the third round in straight sets.

Both women have also won Olympic gold medals in singles play, with Venus triumphing in Sydney and then Serena becoming champion in London. Keys is scheduled to face Russia’s Daria Kasatkina in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Yet the World No. 20 Svitolina proved she was up for the challenge by staying consistent from the backcourt, using good point construction, before finally finishing off points for a victor.

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However, it would prove to be just a momentary recovery, as Svitolina claimed two further breaks to claim the set 6-3 and with it the biggest upset of her career.

Serena Williams