The Silver Lining in Venus and Serena Williams’ Shocking Olympic Loss in Doubles

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Venus and Serena Williams’ stunning first-round loss at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro may seem like the end of an era. Instead, it’s a silver lining, especially for the former.

The Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova defeated the Williams sisters 6-3, 6-4 Sunday, handing the three-time doubles gold medalists their first defeat in Olympic competition. 

They had just won the Wimbledon doubles title.

The loss could end Venus’ quest for a fifth medal. Saturday, Venus suffered a heartbreaking three-set loss to Kirsten Flipkens in singles. Mixed doubles is still an option, but in a brief interview after Sunday’s match, Venus spoke to ESPN.com’s Jesse Washington about moving on: “Today was not our best day as a team. We like to have a chance to play into the tournament, we just played a tough team. So we wish them the best of luck in the rest of the event, and we’ll get ready for the U.S. Open in doubles.”

The Williams sisters weren’t the only top-ranked doubles team to crash out in the first round. The women’s No. 2 seed, Carolina Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, men’s No. 1, Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, and men’s No. 2 seed, Andy Murray and brother Jamie Murray, all lost. 

It was a tough day for top seeds all around. Novak Djokovic left the court in tears after losing his first-round match to Juan Martin del Potro in singles. 

Djokovic is still alive in doubles. But the Williams sisters are not, and that sounds strange for the Olympics. 

#Rio2016 #tennis doubles R1 carnage#1 Venus/Serena

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