Olympic Women's Tennis 2016: Quarterfinal Results, Scores and Reaction
After rain washed out play Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, the top women's tennis players in the world returned to the court Thursday for quarterfinal action at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Although big names like Serena Williams and Garbine Muguruza were ousted in singles play prior to the quarters, a number of stars battled it out for the opportunity to play for a medal.
With the medal rounds drawing near, here is a rundown of the women's singles and doubles results from Brazil on Thursday, as well as a recap of some of the biggest matches and moments on the Olympic stage.
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Women's Singles Results
| Madison Keys (USA) | Daria Kasatkina (RUS) | 6-3, 6-1 |
| Petra Kvitova (CZE) | Elina Svitolina (UKR) | 6-2, 6-0 |
| Monica Puig (PUR) | Laura Siegemund (GER) | 6-1, 6-1 |
| Angelique Kerber (GER) | Johanna Konta (GBR) | 6-1, 6-2 |
Women's Doubles
| Timea Bacsinszky/Martina Hingis (SUI) | Hao-Ching Chan/Yung-Jan Chan (TPE) | 6-3, 6-0 |
| Lucie Safarova/Barbora Strycova (CZE) | Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci (ITA) | 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 |
| Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina (RUS) | Garbine Muguruza/Carl Suarez Navarro (ESP) | 6-3, 6-4 |
| Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka (CZE) | Daria Kasatkina/Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) | 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 |
Recap
The American women lost perhaps their best medal hope when Williams was shockingly ousted by Elina Svitolina, but Madison Keys proved Thursday that not all hope is lost.
The 21-year-old pummeled Daria Kasatkina of Russia, 6-3, 6-1, and ensured that she will play for a medal regardless of what happens in her semifinal match.
As pointed out by Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated, Keys wasted little time in dispatching her overmatched opponent in the quarters:
In fact, Keys was on the court for less than an hour, which should keep her fresh for what promises to be the biggest match of her young career in the semis.
Keys enters the Olympic semis with just one career Grand Slam semifinal appearance to her credit, but as noted by Tumaini Carayol of Eurosport, her results in big tournaments have been impressive of late:
Keys has looked like the heir apparent to Williams as the next top American star over the past couple of years, and earning a medal in Rio would be a huge step toward assuming the throne.
With the U.S. Open on the horizon, Keys figures to have a ton of momentum on her side no matter how her Olympics finish.
In contrast to Keys, 2016 has been a difficult year for two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. The powerful Czech has found her form in Rio, though, and wasted little time in steamrolling the Ukraine's Svitolina.
Kvitova needed just 48 minutes to advance to the semis, and Simon Cambers of the Guardian can envision her going all the way:
While Svitolina shocked by eliminating Serena in the previous round, that fact didn't seem to faze Kvitova at all, as she thoroughly outclassed her opponent.
Kvitova may now be the favorite due to her current form and how well her power plays on hard courts, but she'll have to get past the tournament's top Cinderella player in order to compete for a gold medal.
Puerto Rico's Monica Puig punched her ticket to the semifinals by dominating Germany's Laura Siegemund, 6-1, 6-1, in a match that took just over an hour to complete.
Puig is very much an underdog, in that she is ranked No. 34 in the world, but she hasn't played like one, as evidenced by her form over the past couple of matches, according to WTA Insider:
The 22-year-old has arguably been more impressive than anyone in the women's singles draw, and there is reason to believe she can keep the upset train going against Kvitova.
No matter how she fares, though, Puig will surprisingly have a chance to play for a medal in Brazil.
The day of dominant victories in women's singles tennis continued with the final match of the day, as Germany's Angelique Kerber raced past Johanna Konta of Great Britain in just over an hour.
Kerber is the top seed remaining in the tournament. As pointed out by Chris Oddo of TennisNow.com, her win over Konta was the latest in a long string of successes in 2016:
The German star won the Australian Open for her first career Grand Slam title and also reached the final at Wimbledon.
She is now in a great position to potentially earn her first Olympic medal, but she must get past a huge test in the form of Keys in order to play for gold.
Kerber is 4-1 all-time against Keys, though, including a 3-0 mark on hard courts.
Keys is arguably playing her best tennis ever right now, but Kerber may be as well, which should make for an entertaining and tightly played semifinal.
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