Czechs Stun Williams Sisters In Rio

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Czech dynamos Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova played pitch perfect doubles to dispatch reigning Wimbledon winners and three-time Olympic gold medalists Venus Williams and Serena Williams, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the Olympic tennis event.

The Williams sisters came to Rio with a perfect 15-0 record in Olympic doubles, having captured three gold medals in Sydney, Beijing, and London. But the top seeds faced stiff opposition in the Czechs, who have won four of the last five Fed Cup titles – including last year’s championship, where Strycova helped win the decisive doubles rubber.

Safarova and Strycova recovered from an early break to win six of the final seven games of the opening set, setting the stage for a titanic second set that saw both teams face massive swings in momentum. The Czechs appeared to clinch the necessary advantage by breaking in an almost endless fifth game, but the sisters immediately struck back, saving another break point to get within two games of a deciding set.

Saving three break points of their own, the unseeded duo broke serve one last time to serve out the biggest upset of the tournament in just over 90 minutes.

For Venus, the loss marks what could be the end of a disappointing Olympic outing – unless she opts to participate in the mixed doubles event – losing in the opening round of both singles and doubles.

With No.2 seed Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic losing their first round on Saturday, the doubles draw is wide open, with a host of talented teams capable of grabbing a medal in Rio. Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and CoCo Vandeweghe dropped just two games in their first round against Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja, 6-1, 6-1. Chinese duo Xu Yi-Fan and Zeng Saisai were equally emphatic against the Kichenok twins from Ukraine, defeating Nadiia and Lyudmyla, 6-0, 6-3.

Former No.1s Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci made their long-awaited reunion at the Olympic tennis event, dispatching Germans Andrea Petkovic and Angelique Kerber, 6-2, 6-2.

Source link