Serena and Venus Williams were deposed as Olympic Games women’s doubles champions on Sunday, their hopes of a fourth gold dashed by Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova in the first round.
Just a day after 36-year-old Venus, suffering from a virus and stomach complaint, was beaten in the singles, the top-seeded sisters slumped to a 6-3, 6-4 defeat against the Czech pair.
The sisters won the Olympic doubles title in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
Serena is the defending champion in singles while Venus was the title winner in Sydney 16 years ago.
