After losing her opening match in women’s doubles alongside older sister Venus, Serena Williams returned to the court looking to advance to the third round of the Olympic women’s singles tournament. But in France’s Alize Cornet, Williams was up against an opponent who had won their last three meetings, so nothing was to be taken for granted. But after being pushed to a tiebreaker in the first set, the world’s top-ranked player grabbed control in the second set to win the match, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Serena finished the match with five double faults and 36 unforced errors, but many of those problems occurred in the first set.