Olympic Women's Tennis 2016: Sunday Round-of-64 Results, Scores and Reaction
Women's tennis kicked into high gear Sunday at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, as many of the sport's top performers began their pursuit of a gold medal as part of both the singles and doubles draws.
World No. 1 Serena Williams was chief among those scheduled to compete, as were reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber and 2016 French Open titlist Garbine Muguruza.
Here is a full list of Sunday's results with more available as the day progresses, along with a recap of the action that has taken place thus far.
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Women's Singles Results
| Serena Williams (USA) | Daria Gavrilova (AUS) | 6-4, 6-2 |
| Angelique Kerber (GER) | Mariana Duque-Marino (COL) | 6-3, 7-5 |
| Petra Kvitova (CZE) | Timea Babos (HUN) | 6-1, 6-2 |
| Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) | Qiang Wang (CHN) | 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 |
| Monica Puig (PUR) | Polona Hercog (SLO) | 6-3, 6-2 |
| Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) | Lucie Hradecka (CZE) | 6-2, 6-2 |
| Misaki Doi (JPN) | Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) | 6-3, 6-4 |
| Nao Hibino (JPN) | Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) | 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 |
| Samantha Stosur (AUS) | Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) | 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 |
| Garbine Muguruza (ESP) | Andreea Mitu (ROU) | 6-2, 6-2 |
| Caroline Garcia (FRA) | Teliana Pereira (BRA) | 6-1, 6-2 |
| Johanna Konta (GBR) | Stephanie Vogt (LIE) | 6-3, 6-1 |
| Alize Cornet (FRA) | Johanna Larsson (SWE) | 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 |
| Laura Siegemund (GER) | Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) | 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 |
| Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) | Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR) | 3-6, 6-0, 7-6(6) |
Women's Doubles Results
| Yifan Xu/Saisai Zheng (CHN) | Liudmyla Kichenok/Nadiia Kichenok (UKR) | 6-0, 6-3 |
| Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Coco Vandeweghe (USA) | Anabel Medina Garrigues/Arantxa Parra-Santonja (ESP) | 6-1, 6-1 |
| Lucie Safarova/Barbora Strycova (CZE) | Serena Williams/Venus Williams (USA) | 6-3, 6-4 |
| Kirsten Flipkens/Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) | Yaroslava Shvedova/Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) | 6-1 (ret.) |
| Eugenie Bouchard/Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN) | Klaudia Jans-Ignacik/Paula Kania (POL) | 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 |
| Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka (CZE) | Olga Savchuk/Elina Svitolina (UKR) | 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-4 |
| Hao-Ching Chan/Yung-Jan Chan (TPE) | Irina-Camelia Begu/Monica Niculescu (ROU) | 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 |
| Andreea Mitu/Raluca Olaru (ROU) | Timea Babos and Reka-Luca Jani (HUN) | 6-3, 6-4 |
Recap
Williams began the defense of her Olympic gold medal from the 2012 London Games in impressive fashion Sunday, as she defeated Australia's Daria Gavrilova 6-4, 6-2 in straight sets.
Heading into Sunday, Williams had lost just one Olympic match in singles and doubles combined over the course of her career, and she was never in danger against Gavrilova despite her gritty play.
As Nick McCarvel of USA Today pointed out, centre court was teeming with energy as fans watched the world's top women's player and fed off of her emotion:
WTA Insider believes Williams couldn't have asked for a much better start to the singles tournament:
Serena is the unquestioned favorite to win her second career singles gold medal at the Olympics due to her strong resume at the Summer Games as well as her great form coming off a Wimbledon title. While she faltered in her first two Grand Slam finals of 2016, she appears to be fully back on track, as Sunday's win over Gavrilova demonstrated.
Serena didn't have as much luck teaming with her sister, Venus, in the doubles tournament. Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova knocked the Williams sisters out in the first round, 6-3, 6-4.
Serena and Venus were the two-time defending Olympic champions in women's doubles, and they also earned gold in Sydney in 2000. Though the two are well into their 30s, seeing them exit the competition in the first round was a massive surprise.
The Williams' sisters collective issues on serve doomed them against their opponents from the Czech Republic. They won just 48 percent of their first-service points and allowed Safarova and Strycova to have 15 break-point opportunities.
Despite her doubles defeat, Serena was undoubtedly the star of the day, but a number of other potential medal contenders strengthened their cases as well.
Chief among them was Kerber, who defeated Colombia's Mariana Duque-Marino in straight sets despite trailing 2-5 in the second. After reeling off five consecutive game wins, she seems to have a great chance to add an Olympic medal to a year that has already included an Aussie Open title and runner-up finish at Wimbledon.
Although 2016 has been nowhere near as good to Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, she got back on track Sunday by impressively taking down the Czech Republic's Lucie Hradecka in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
Injuries have slowed Wozniacki and negatively impacted the former world No. 1's ranking, but she could be a big-time spoiler in Rio if she is healthy and in strong form. She faces a huge test in the second round, however, as she will take on another Czech native in Petra Kvitova.
The two-time Wimbledon champion is having a down year in her own right as she is outside the top 10, but she picked apart Hungary's Timea Babos in a clinical straight-set effort, 6-1, 6-2.
Kvitova's 6'0" size and big serve tend to play well on hard courts, and she has all the makings of one of Williams' biggest obstacles if she plays her best tennis.
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