WIMBLEDON, England — Venus Williams began her bid for a record fourth gold medal in Olympic tennis Monday by beating Sara Errani of Italy, 6-3, 6-1.
It was an impressive showing from Williams, who is unseeded and drew a tough first-round foe. Errani has won four titles this year, was the runner-up at the French Open and is ranked a career-high No. 9.
But Williams was in fine form on the Wimbledon grass, where she has won five of her seven Grand Slam titles.
Twenty minutes after Williams won on Court 2, younger sister Serena closed out a second-round victory on Court 1, beating Urszula Radwanska of Poland, 6-2, 6-3. Serena defeated Radwanska’s sister, Agnieszka, in the Wimbledon final this month.
Top-seeded Roger Federer made only a brief appearance on Centre Court, beating Julien Benneteau of France 6-2, 6-2 in less than an hour to reach the third round.
Andy Roddick quickly took to Olympic grass, winning his first-round match over Martin Klizan of Slovakia, 7-5, 6-4.
Also Monday:
- Mansur Isaev of Russia won a gold medal in Olympic judo Monday in the men’s 73-kilogram category. Isaev defeated the current world champion, Riki Nakaya of Japan, in a close-fought final in which both competitors struggled to pin each other.
- France stunned Australia with a 74-70 overtime victory Monday in the women’s Olympic basketball tournament.
- In the men’s 10-meter synchronized platform, Cao Yuan and Zhang Yanquan totaled 486.78 points in the six-dive final to take the gold. German Sanchez and Ivan Garcia of Mexico took silver, while Nick McCrory and David Boudia of the U.S. won the bronze.