Olympic Update: Women Tennis

 

Top seed Serena Williams and British No 1 Joanna Konta both enjoyed straight sets victories in their opening matches at the Rio Olympics. In the singles, Serena Williams began her quest for a second successive Olympic title with a comfortable triumph over Aussie Daria Gavrilova, while Konta eased past Stephanie Vogt of Liechtenstein.

The world No 1 American needed 93 minutes to wrap up a 6-4 6-2 win and, despite being broken twice in the opening set, the 34-year-old took charge and secured a straight sets triumph on her third match point. Strong gusts prevented matches on some courts from starting on time and Williams was relieved to have made it through.

Konta, meanwhile, won 6-3 6-1 in 77 minutes by taking 11 of the final 13 games.  She is thoroughly enjoying the Olympic experience and said: “It's been great, it's nothing like anything else. I'm really enjoying being able to chat to the hockey guys or the rugby girls. I've made it my mission to become more informed about the other sports, because I'm definitely not impressed with how little knowledge I have.”

Also through is the No 2 seed Angelique Kerber who recovered from 2-5 down in the second set to beat Mariana Duque-Marino of Colombia 6-3 7-5. The German now faces Canada's Eugenie Bouchard, the Wimbledon runner-up in 2014.

Another winner on Sunday was two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova who breezed past Hungary's Timea Babos. The big-serving Czech, seeded 11, won 6-1 6-2 and will now take on Caroline Wozniacki in a stand-out second round clash.