SHOCKERS ON THE COURT
Williams sisters, Djokovic lose openers
Three-time doubles gold medalists Serena and Venus Williams lost an Olympic match as partners for the first time, stunned in the opening round of the Rio de Janeiro Games by the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova, 6-3, 6-4.
The Williams sisters entered Sunday’s match with a 15-0 career record in the Olympics, winning the gold medal in women’s doubles every time they entered the event: in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
“We played terrible,” Serena said, “and sults.”
The American duo was seeded No. 1 in Rio and coming off a 14th Grand Slam championship together at Wimbledon a month ago.
Neither Safarova nor Strycova, meanwhile, ever had won an Olympic doubles match, going a combined 0-3 with other partners. They are unseeded in Rio.
And get this: They weren’t even supposed to be playing to- gether at the Olympics. Strycova was a late replacement for Karolina Pliskova, who withdrew from the tournament. Indeed, Strycova and Safarova only had played one match as a team before Sunday night — and they lost that, in a Fed Cup match last year.
Still, Strycova said: “We’re good friends, and we know each other’s games.”
This was Serena’s second match of the day: She won her first-rounder in singles earlier.
On the men’s side, top-ranked Novak Djokovic lost his firstround match to 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2).
With the loss, Djokovic is still left seeking his first Olympic gold medal.
Andy Murray and his older brother Jamie exited in the first round of doubles to Brazilians Thomaz Bellucci and Andre Sa 7-6 (6), 7-6 (14) in front of a loud partisan crowd.
U.S. gymnasts dominate early
The U.S. women’s team posted a team score of 185.238, nearly 10 points better than second-place
China through four of the five subdivisions, a preposterous gap in a sport where the difference between first and second is measured in fractions.
Simone Biles score of 62.366 was well clear of teammate Aly Raisman. So much for the butterflies in her stomach.
All five women earned a spot in either the all-around or event finals, or in the case of Biles and Raisman, both.
Egyptians hit beach in pants
The Egyptian women’s beach volleyball team of Nada Meawad and Doaa Elghobashy took the court for their match against Germany wearing long sleeves and long pants.
Elghobashy also had her head covered by a hijab.
It was a stark contrast to the usual beach volleyball uniform — bikinis for women and boardshorts for men. Although the International Volleyball Federation used to have standards regulating the size of uniforms, those were loosened heading into the London Olympics to allow full sleeves and pants.
Brazil soccer faces elimination
The Brazilian men’s soccer team heard more loud jeers from the home fans after again being held to a 0-0 draw, this time by Iraq.
The result leaves Brazil tied for second place in Group A and in need of a victory in the final game against Denmark on Wednesday to advance.
Croatia stuns Spain in hoops
Sixers rookie Dario Saric blocked Pau Gasol (26 points) in the closing seconds to secure Croatia a 72-70 win over world power Spain in Group B play. Nets forward Bojan Bogdanovic scored 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting to help pace Croatia.
Americans miss rugby upset
The U.S. was seconds from the biggest upset of the rugby sevens tournament before Emma Tonegato and Chloe Dalton combined to earn Australia a 12-12 draw in a dramatic end to the group stage. Australia won Pool A and moved into the quarterfinals along with the third-place Americans.