The American reigning champion had 37 unforced errors in a 6-4 6-3 defeat against Ukraine’s Svitolina in the third round on Tuesday.
Advertisement
In an interview after the match, Svitolina said she couldn’t believe she’d won. She lost the adrenaline from her initial lead and lost to Ukranian player, Elina Svitolina.
Svitolina, who will face Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova in the quarter-finals, was over the moon with her first victory in five meetings over the 22-time grand slam singles victor. Far from it. I am saying, though, that in the grand scheme of her career and her seasons, Williams has placed a lower priority on winning medals than on winning other tournaments – and this should be especially true after she won singles Gold in London four years ago. She played with tremendous depth and never once let the World No. 1 overpower her.
“It was awesome and fun, but it’s over now”, said the 35-year-old tennis superstar.
“The better player won”, said Williams, who did not take questions from the media after the match and instead did a brief interview with a U.S. Tennis Association spokesman who shared the audio with reporters.
Williams follows men’s top seed Novak Djokovic in exiting the Olympics after he was defeated in both singles and doubles. Also I didn’t find the way tactically to beat her. Obviously she was not playing well today, but in some moments she was serving really well and playing some great shots.
British No1 Johanna Konta, meanwhile, remains in the draw after bouncing back from a set deficit to defeat two-time Grand Slam victor Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 7-5, 7-5. This could be one of the toughest fiascos in her career.
She expressed her disappointment at the results, after the game.
“I can’t wait for the next time and I know next time it’s going to be a really good match”.
Advertisement
Compatriot Andy Murray barely broke sweat in a 6-3, 6-1 second-round victory over Juan Monaco. The top-seeded men’s doubles team, Frenchmen Pierre-Hughes Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, also were upset in their first-round match. Murray will play the victor of the match between France’s Benoit Paire and Italy’s Fabio Fognini in the round of 16.
