Serena Williams not at her best in 1st-round win
Top-ranked player commits 37 unforced errors in windy conditions
By Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press
it was the 25 mph winds. Or the slower-than-expected hard courts. Or maybe simply that Serena Williams hadn't played a match in a month.
Whatever the cause, Williams opened defence of her Olympic singles gold medal with a patchy-at-times 6-4, 6-2 victory over Australia's Daria Gavrilova on Sunday, gesturing or yelling at herself as she often does when not all goes her way.
"I'm always frustrated on the court if it's not perfect," the American said.
Williams had not competed since collecting her Open-era record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. She's now won 19 of her past 20 matches.
Seeded No. 1 at the Rio de Janeiro Games, Williams was hardly at her best in the 91-minute contest against Gavrilova, who is ranked 46th and only once has been past the second round at a major tournament.
Gusty conditions
While that match was played in the main stadium, action was delayed because of strong winds for about two hours on the eight smaller Olympic courts.
"I was a little nervous about that," Williams said of her reaction to hearing of the gusty conditions, which she called "very intense."
Williams compiled 37 unforced errors to 27 winners, and got broken at love while serving for the first set at 5-3, a game that included a tremendously entertaining point.
The lengthy exchange featured terrific defence by both women and ended with Williams putting a forehand into the net. Afterward, she leaned over near the net, while Gavrilova dropped to her knees on the court, letting go of her racket.
But Williams broke right back in the next game to take the set.
"The first set, especially, was extremely tricky," Williams said, referring to the wind, "but I'm glad it kind of slowed down in the second a little bit, so I was able to produce better tennis."
Slow courts, high bounces
Players have noticed that the green courts in Rio play slower and offer higher bounces than hard courts used on the North American circuit leading to the U.S. Open later this month.
"Fortunately enough, I am a pretty good clay-court player, so I'm OK with the slow courts," said Williams, a three-time French Open champion. "You have to hit about three or four more shots or just play a little bit better. It's OK. I'm getting used to the conditions as a whole."
Serena and her older sister Venus were stunned in their doubles match Sunday, losing in Olympic competition for the first time. They were defeated by Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4. The Williams sisters had previously gone 15-0, winning gold in every Games they entered — 2000, 2008 and 2012.
On Saturday night, Venus' availability for doubles was put in doubt by U.S. women's tennis coach Mary Joe Fernandez, who said the four-time gold medalist and seven-time Grand Slam champion had cramping, dehydration and an upset stomach following a first-round loss in singles.
Serena also owns a gold medal in singles from the London Games four years ago.
Canadian outlook
Eugenie Bouchard, who won her first round match Saturday against American Sloane Stephens, is scheduled to open the doubles side with partner Gabriela Dabrowski Sunday against Poland.
Canada's Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil will compete on the men's doubles side Sunday to open their tournament. They'll take on Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus of New Zealand.
With files from CBC Sports