Rio 2016: Williams sisters crash out of tennis doubles, lose chance to win 4 golds in a row

For the first time since they began competing in the Olympic Games in 2000, tennis aces and sisters Serena and Venus Williams crashed out in the very first round at the Rio Olympics 2016 when the last-moment pair of Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova thrashed the dynamic American stars by 6-3 6-4.

The Williams sisters won gold in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the 2012 London Olympics. They did not compete in the 2004 Athens Games because Serena was recovering from an injury.

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Had they made it through the Rio 2016 Games, they might have created a record for winning four consecutive Olympics golds.

“We played terrible and it showed in the results," Serena Williams told BBC Sports. The 22-time Grand Slam singles winner tried her best to sound positive even after her defeat. "It was what it was,” she said. “We had a chance to compete for our country and did the best that we could. We had a blast out there.”

She added: "I wouldn't say it was devastating. It was a lot of fun and we will always remember these moments and these matches. At the end of the day, I think that's what matters most."

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Serena, 34, is still in the running to win the singles gold, which would make her the first woman to win two consecutive Olympic singles medals after London 2012. Earlier on Sunday, she beat Australia's Daria Gavrilova in the first round.

Feature Image Credit: BBC