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Out of sorts, Serena Williams upset at Olympics by Svitolina

Serena Williams, of the United States, pumps her fist after winning a point at the net against Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Serena Williams, of the United States, pumps her fist after winning a point at the net against Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Serena Williams, of the United States, pumps her fist after winning a point at the net against Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

By Associated Press 3 min read

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Out of sorts and out of answers, defending champion Serena Williams is out of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Shanking shots of all sorts, including five – yes, five! – double-faults in one game alone, Williams lost to Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 6-3 in the third round in a real shocker Tuesday, ending the No. 1-seeded American’s bid to become the first tennis player to collect a pair of singles golds.

Against an unheralded opponent who at times couldn’t seem to miss, Williams had problems right from the start, when she got broken to fall behind 2-1 with a badly missed overhead into the net.

That set a pattern.

By match’s end, Svitolina had won 63 points, but merely nine came via clean winners of her own doing. The others came thanks to Williams’ 37 unforced errors and 17 forced errors.