Williams Sisters Both Ousted in Day of Tennis Upsets

It was a day of upsets in tennis at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday. First top-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland was defeated by James Blake of the United States. Then both Venus and Serena Williams of the United States lost their respective matches.

Serena, seeded #4 in the women’s singles competition, was defeated by Russia’s Elena Dementieva (pictured above), the #5 seed, in three sets.

Venus played China’s Li Na, losing in two close sets, 5-7, 5-7.

Venus and Serena Williams are partners and still in the women’s double competition. They won the Gold Medal in doubles at the 2000 Games in Sydney.