Photo by Doha Stadium Plus
Serena Williams’ Olympic horror story continued on Tuesday with a stunning defeat to the 15th seed Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine. Only a couple of days ago, Williams, together with sister Venus lost an Olympic doubles match for the first time and were eliminated in the opening round. Venus will be teaming up with Rajeev Ram in the mixed doubles but Serena will be returning home after a dismal campaign.
“It didn’t work out the way I wanted it to … The better player won.†stated Williams after the match.
Svitolina, who won in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 said “The feeling is unreal, and I still can’t believe this match ended with a win for me, I was trying to be focused because she’s a great player with great experience coming back in many amazing matches. In the end, it was just point by point.â€
The match also marked a resumption of the Williams/Justine Henin with the former Belgian world number one now coaching Svitolina. Her charge will now prepare to face Peta Kvitova in the next round. Kvitova of the Czech Republic beat Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) 4-6 6-4 6-4.Murguruza thrashed by Monica Puig
Before the Williams upset, the biggest talking point of the day concerned Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig’s 6-1 6-1 demolition of French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza.
Muguruza struggled to find any sort of rhythm and racked up 29 unforced errors, nearly double Puig’s count and could never get into the match.
For Puig, it was the biggest win of her career. “I think it is. I consider it the biggest win of my career because it’s at the Olympics. This happens once every four years, Right now, I’m in the clouds. I can’t even believe it because truly it was incredible.†she stated after the match.
Kerber advances
Angelique Kerber didn’t have any the issues troubling Serena Williams or Garbiñe Muguruza. The German World Number 2 successfully navigated a potentially tough match with Australia’s Sam Stosur.
She enjoyed a first set 6-0 bagel over Stosur although it is safe to say that the set was a tougher test than the scoreline indicated. The second set provided a closer, more indicative scoreline with Kerber coming through 7-5 to book her place in the next round.
Results Wire
15-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) beat 1-Serena Williams (U.S.) 6-4 6-3
2-Angelique Kerber (Germany) beat 13-Samantha Stosur (Australia) 6-0 7-5
10-Johanna Konta (Britain) beat 8-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 3-6 7-5 7-5
Monica Puig (Puerto Rico) beat 3-Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) 6-1 6-1
Darya Kasatkina (Russia) beat Sara Errani (Italy) 7-5 6-2
11-Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) beat Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) 4-6 6-4 6-4
7-Madison Keys (U.S.) beat 9-Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) 6-3 3-6 6-3
Laura Siegemund (Germany) beat Kirsten Flipkens (Belgium) 6-4 6-3
Photo by Doha Stadium Plus
Read the whole post here.
