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The Latest: Serena Williams breaks racket, gets past Cornet

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Latest from the 2016 Summer Olympics at Rio de Janeiro (all times local):

8:50 p.m.

One destroyed racket — and one poor set — later, Serena Williams is safely into the third round of the Rio Olympics as she bids for a second consecutive singles gold medal.

The No. 1-seeded American struggled for quite a while Monday night before emerging with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory over France's Alize Cornet.

Williams started off by taking the first three games, but then dropped five of the following six. During that troublesome stretch, Williams reacted to losing two games in a row by mangling her equipment, slamming it against the back of her sideline chair.