Kirsten Flipkens utterly surprised Venus Williams on the first day of the Rio Olympic Games tennis competition. The Belgian ousted the American in three grueling sets, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5).
Williams seals opening set in style despite not having best tennis
Venus Williams and Kirsten Flipkens entered Centre Court to kick off their opener at the Rio Olympic Games. The American-Belgian pair commenced their fourth career meeting with Flipkens to serve. The first game saw the Belgian show signs of nerves with as she was making her Olympic-Games debut against a four-time gold medalist. Venus consolidated her break before Flipkens got onto the scoreboard with a rather complicated hold. The 36-year-old led two games to one and stayed on top as she held to love after sealing the game in style. However, she was unable to extend her lead in the following game due to the craftiness from the Belgian. A nifty drop shot concluded the game in Flipken’s favor, but the American had the 3-2 edge heading into their second sit down.
The Belgian broke back to arrive the score at three games apiece. The slow-paced court seemed to be making it more difficult for the players to hit through their opponent, causing for the majority of the points to end on an error. Both players held chances to take the 4-3 advantage, but Flipkens was the one to capitalize after several missed opportunities in the 15-minute game. Williams weathered the storm with an extended hold to end her Belgian counterpart’s run of the games. The American continued her fight-back with her second break to take a 5-4 lead. A Flipkens forehand sailed long to end the first set in the world number six’s liking, 6-4.
Belgian battles back to force third set
Despite having dropped the previous three games, the crafty Belgian was the first to get onto the scoreboard in the second set after a routine hold to 15. She kept her momentum rolling as she broke for a 2-0 score line before she consolidated to inch three games ahead. However, Venus kept her second-set hopes alive with a love hold to avoid trailing by four games. Flipkens continued to display her high-quality tennis en route to yet another hold before her American opposition held immediately back.
The set seemed to have taken a turn for the worst as the Belgian suddenly witnessed her 4-1 lead turn into just a 4-3 lead with the set on serve. Although having had a rough previous two games, the underdog clutched out the crucial break to earn the chance to serve out the second set. Flipkens quickly fell behind 0-40 in her service game at 5-3, but she handled her nerves to finish the set and force a decider.
Flipkens' dream comes true in Rio
A quick hold by Venus opened up third-set action before Flipkens leveled the scoreboard in spite of facing break points. The American stayed strong in her service game and she soon found herself with chances to grab an early break as well. Williams capitalized and stretched her advantage to 3-1. There was no stopping Venus as Flipkens lacked answers for the brilliant tennis that was being displayed from the seven-time Grand Slam champion. Williams held a 4-1, final-set lead and nothing seemed to be stopping her from escaping a challenging opening round.
The American held chances to take a 5-1 advantage, but the Belgian fought back to hold in style. Her clutch hold was followed by an even better break to perhaps cause the world number six to get nervous as her lead began to slip away. A break to love allowed Venus to serve for the match, but Flipkens never gave up even when she was on the brink of defeat. The world number 62 took the next three games to earn her chance to serve out the match. The match was not concluded then and Venus forced a final-set tiebreaker. However, Flipkens was the player to settle down and steal the match, 7-5 in a deciding set tiebreaker.
Crafty world number 62 faces Safarova next
Flipkens goes head-to-head with Lucie Safarova in round two. Both players both came from a set down in their openers and are set to play in their fourth career meeting with the Czech lefty leading the series 2-1.
