Venus and Serena Williams were unable to defend their Olympic gold medals this year, as they got knocked out in the first round of the doubles competition in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. The sisters, who won gold in the 2000 (Sydney), 2008 (Beijing), and 2012 (London) Summer Olympics, were going for their third consecutive Gold medal and fourth in four appearances (they did not play at the 2004 Athens Games), but they could not handle the Czech Republic duo of Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova. The Czechs handed the Williams sisters their first Olympic doubles loss, prevailing 6-3, 6-4.
People who have been taking the underdog online betting odds on Olympics tennis should have a smile on their faces because not only did the Williams sisters lose, but top-ranked Novak Djokovic also fell in the first round this past weekend.
The Williams sisters, who had never previous lost an Olympic doubles match, were the top-seed pair and they recently captured their 14th Grand Slam title together at Wimbledon. Neither Safarova nor Strycova, meanwhile, had ever won an Olympic doubles match prior to Sunday, having compiled a combined 0-3 record.
Interestingly, Safarova and Strycova weren’t even supposed to play together in Rio. But Karolina Pliskova, who had been scheduled to be Safarova’s partner, withdrew from the tournament and Strycova was named the replacement. Prior to this upset, Safarova and Strycova had only played together once—resulting in a Fed Cup loss last season.
Fatigue may have been a factor for the Williams sisters because it was the second match of the day for Serena and Venus lost her first-round match on Saturday.
After the singles setback, Venus did not speak to reporters, but Mary Joe Fernandez—the U.S. women’s Olympic tennis coach—said Venus had been sick before arriving in Brazil. Fernandez added that the seven-time Grand Slam champion was also dealing with cramps, an upset stomach, and dehydration following her singles loss. Tom LaDue, a USTA spokesman, told the Associated Press that Venus felt better on Sunday and was therefore able to compete in doubles.
On the men’s side, Djokovic has won all four Grand Slams and has achieved just about every other major milestone in tennis, but he has never won an Olympic gold medal. With a lot of the other stars not participating in the tournament this year, it was assumed that Djokovic would final win the elusive gold and add to his list of career achievements. However, a 7-6(4), 7-6(2) loss to Juan Martin Del Potro put an end to Djokovic’s Olympic dreams.
At 29 years old, Djokovic may still have a chance to win gold (2020 in Tokyo), but by the time the next Olympics roll around he will be 33, putting him closer to the twilight of his career than to his prime.
After the match, a visibly emotional Djokovic called the loss the toughest of his career. The world No. 1 did not answer when asked if this will be his final Olympics. But since Djokovic is one of the most competitive and driven players in the sport, don’t rule out another Olympic bid.
After an exciting weekend in tennis filled with upsets, even more fans will likely be turning in to see if another top-ranked player will lose in the early rounds.
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