But after going 3-0 in the last three Olympics they’ve played, surely the loss wasn’t easy for Venus and Serena to endure no matter how Venus was feeling!
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Venus Williams, of the United States, reacts after losing a point in a doubles match with her sister Serena against Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova, of the Czech Republic, at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016.
Both women have also won Olympic gold medals in singles play, with Venus triumphing in Sydney and then Serena becoming champion in London.
Prior to Sunday’s match, the Williamses had only dropped three sets in the entirety of their Olympics doubles career together, spanning 15 prior matches.
She added: “So many Olympic doubles golds and Grand Slam titles, it’s been awesome”.
Whatever the cause, Williams opened defense of her Olympic singles gold medal with a patchy-at-times 6-4, 6-2 victory over Australia’s Daria Gavrilova on Sunday, gesturing or yelling at herself as she often does when not all goes her way.
Indeed, Strycova and Safarova only had played one match as a team before Sunday night – and they lost that, in a Fed Cup match past year. The fiery duo went on to win the competition.
Williams had not competed since collecting her Open-era record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.
“I’m always frustrated on the court if it’s not ideal”, the American said.
Williams and Gavrilova have met once before and it was in the second round of Doha back in 2013, and Gavrilova entered the tournament as a lucky loser.
Gavrilova in a practice session on Australian, Fed Cup duty (Photo by Bradley Kanaris / Source: Getty Images) Who wins?
“Lucie was playing unbelievable from the baseline”, Strycova said. The American has powerful groundstrokes, and her serve is one of the best serves in the history of women’s tennis. Or maybe simply that Serena Williams hadn’t played a match in a month.
But Williams broke right back in the next game to take the set.
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This first round match is scheduled second and it will follow Germany’s Dustin Brown’s clash with home-favourite, Thomaz Bellucci on Centre Court.
