The biggest star in women’s tennis, and the biggest star by far among USA men or women in that sport, is out of the Olympics.
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Elina Svitolina (UKR) of Ukraine celebrates after winning her match against Serena Williams (USA) of USA. She got to break point with a big forehand that forced an errant forehand from Williams, then converted with an inside-out forehand return victor off a 97 miles per hour (157 kph) second serve.
In 2012 she also took home the top honor for the Singles competition.
Britain’s Murray and Spain’s Nadal could only meet in the gold-medal final or bronze-medal match – and they don’t need to worry about dealing with No. 1 Novak Djokovic, a 12-time major champion who lost in the first round to 2009 U.S. Open victor Juan Martin del Potro.
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.
“I didn’t really think about my record against Serena”, she added. We’ll need to hear as to whether or not she’s suffering from an injury, but one thing’s for certain-this is not how the world No. 1 envisioned her Olympic gold-medal defense. “That’s the reality. Two weeks ago, I didn’t know if I could be here”. It didn’t work out the way I wanted it to, but at least I was able to make it to Rio.
Spanish seventh seed David Ferrer was knocked out by Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy 3-6, 7-6 (7/1), 7-5.
Two-time Wimbledon victor Petra Kvitova needed three sets to beat Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
“It was just an unreal feeling, just a relief for me because I didn’t expect even in that moment that I could win”, she said.
Juan Monaco, meanwhile, was unable to duplicate the feat of countryman Del Potro in his game against Murray as the Wimbledon champion coasted to a 6-3, 6-1 win and maintained his superb run of recent form.
Unfortunately, Serena was apparently just off her A-game while in Rio.
Murray takes on Fabio Fognini for a place in the men’s quarters, while Svitolina’s reward is a last-eight clash with 11th seed Petra Kvitova. “I stayed in the moment, relaxed and went for my shots especially in second set because it was really tight”, said Svitolina, the world number 20.
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All Williams’ achievements made Svitolina cautious to count her out, even as the American was sailing backhands past the baseline, dumping forehands into the net and serving erratically at two-thirds her usual speed.
