Serena and Venus Williams are KNOCKED OUT of Rio

Three-time doubles gold medalists Venus and Serena Williams have lost their first-ever Olympics doubles match. The tennis champions have won gold in the doubles matches at London 2012, Beijing's 2008 Games and at Sydney's Olympics in 2000. They were favorites to
take home their fourth gold on Sunday, when they lost in straight sets to the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova in 93 minutes. 

It comes as yet another blow for Venus who crashed out of the women's singles Olympic tennis tournament in Rio on Saturday.

Four-time gold medalist Venus, who is ranked 6th best player in the world, lost to Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) in a three-hour center court marathon, marking her first ever opening round loss. 

Serena had better luck, managing to hold on to her Olympic singles gold medal, winning with a patchy-at-times 6-4, 6-2 victory over Australia's Daria Gavrilova on Sunday. 

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.

'She had been ill for a few days with a bad virus. She had an upset stomach and she was coughing up a lot, you could see she was really struggling,' said US captain Mary Jo Fernandez, who faced the media in Williams' place. 

Now it appears that the mystery illness has affected her performance at Sunday's opening doubles with Serena.  

But on Sunday they suffered an early loss in the first set, losing 6-3 to the Czech players.

Venus and Serena, who is ranked number one, gained ground on the second set but lost the lead, coming to a final score of 6-4.  

The Williams sisters, not used to defeat, looked dejected as they left the stadium after their first ever doubles match loss at the Olympics and refused to give any media interviews. 

But it was all smiles for the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova, who ranks 28th, and Barbora Strycova, who ranks 21st, as they celebrated their win against the defending champions. - Daily Mail