Kirsten Flipkens has struggled with her tennis since reaching the semifinals of Wimbledon back in 2013 but the Belgian is not to be taken lightly and could cause Williams some problems in their first round encounter.
Advertisement
The legendary 34-year-old is favourite to win another singles gold in Rio and will have high hopes of further success in the doubles after combining with her older sibling to triumph in the doubles at the All England Club on the same day in which she beat Angelique Kerber in the singles final.
When Venus Williams pushed one last forehand long to lose in the first round for the first time in her record five Olympic singles tournaments, her opponent celebrated as if having claimed a gold medal, dropping down on the green hard court to plant a kiss on the white five-ring logo.
“I’ve been playing against the clock to get ready in time”, she said.
She paired up with Chanda Rubin, instead of Serena, who withdrew from the event due to a knee injury.
This will be the fourth Olympic Games for Williams.
She has won an astonishing 71 singles championships, more than $77 million in prize money (the most ever for a female tennis player), and completed nearly 1,000 career victories!
Serena and Venus Williams say they and the US tennis team are ready for the Olympics despite health concerns in Rio while avoiding hot political issues back home. “She’s had a wonderful career as a singles player too”, said Serena, asserting that it was always special to play in the Olympics. They have 13 doubles Grand Slams playing together between 1999 and 2012.
The Wimbledon 2016 victor opens up to SELF in a new cover feature, discussing everything from how hard it is to stay number one to her friendship with fellow SI Swimsuit star Caroline Wozniacki.
Williams is seeded first among all female tennis singles competitors.
Serena absolutely demolished Russia’s Maria Sharapova, winning 6-0 6-1. The tennis all-star, who has 22 Grand Slam titles to her name, has never earned a medal below Gold. The veteran American leads their head-to-head 2-1. They are the current gold medal holders, and also took top spot on the podium in 2000 and 2008.
Advertisement
When Serena and Venus step on to the court to play doubles, they become a force to reckon with. They lost in the third round but made up for that with a straight-sets final win at SW19 three weeks later. Next up for Flipkens is Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, who advanced with a win over Italy’s Karin Knapp.
