Tennis upsets, more bloody cycling, scores, rankings and medals at Olympics

RIO DE JANEIRO — Novak Djokovic shook his head and placed his palm over welling eyes on his way to the locker room after a first-round Olympic exit, devastated he might never realize his goal of adding a gold in singles to a substantial collection of Grand Slam titles.

“I mean, no doubt, it’s one of the toughest losses in my life, in my career,” Djokovic said later, shaking his head and speaking in subdued tones. “Not easy to handle.”

The Serb was hardly alone in his disappointment on Day 2 of the Rio de Janeiro Games: He was one of three No. 1 seeds to exit the tennis competition in a wild span of 12 hours.

Djokovic’s 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) setback Sunday night was caused in large part by ferocious forehand after ferocious forehand from a resurgent Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina. That surprising result followed losses by the top-seeded duos of Serena and Venus Williams of the United States — who entered their match with a 15-0 Olympic record and three gold medals as a pair — in women’s doubles, and Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France in men’s doubles.

The second-seeded men’s doubles duo of Andy and Jamie Murray departed, too.

“Got to take it on the chin,” said Jamie, the older brother of two-time Wimbledon winner Andy, “and move on.”

Sunday began with 25 mph winds that delayed the start of play on eight of Rio’s nine tennis courts for about 2 hours, and then came so many startling outcomes.

None was more significant than 2009 U.S. Open titlist del Potro’s victory over 12-time major champion and No. 1-ranked Djokovic in a thriller before a raucous crowd. The match concluded with both men, who are friends, wiping away tears after a lengthy, warm embrace at the net, during which Djokovic offered what del Potro described as “really kind words.”

Del Potro has dealt with three operations to his left wrist that kept him off the Grand Slam circuit for 2½ years, until Wimbledon last month, and even he acknowledged: “I didn’t expect to beat Novak tonight.”

Djokovic had won seven of their eight most recent meetings, and 11 of 14 overall, before Sunday. But this is the second time that del Potro came out ahead at an Olympics: He beat Djokovic to take the bronze medal in London four years ago.

Representing Serbia means a lot to Djokovic, who led his country to a Davis Cup title and carried its flag at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Games. He did earn a bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but to a guy with so much success, anything other than being the champion is not acceptable.

There is still a shot at gold in doubles in Rio — he and Nenad Zimonjic are into the second round — but as for singles, Djokovic will be 33 by the time Tokyo hosts the 2020 Olympics.

“The wounds are still fresh,” Djokovic said. “But you’ve got to deal with it. It’s not the first (or) the last time that I’m losing a tennis match. But Olympic Games, yeah, it’s completely different.”

This comes a little more than a month after a third-round loss at Wimbledon against Sam Querrey of the United States, and could add to the sense that Djokovic is not as unbeatable as everyone was beginning to think he was when he won the French Open in June to become the first man in nearly a half-century to win four consecutive major trophies.

With Djokovic out of the draw, 2012 gold medalist Andy Murray, who is seeded No. 2, becomes the favorite as he bids to become the first player to win consecutive Olympic singles titles. He won his opener in that event Sunday, 6-3, 6-2 against Serbia’s Viktor Troicki.

WILLIAMS DOUBLES LOSS

Also chasing a repeat in singles: Serena Williams, who was the only No. 1 seed with a victory Sunday, albeit a patchy one, 6-4, 6-2 against Australia’s Daria Gavrilova in singles.

Then Serena went back out on court to partner Venus, who has been ill and lost in singles on Saturday. They were beaten 6-3, 6-4 by the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova.

“We played terrible,” Serena said, “and it showed in the results.”

A common theme on this day.

After he and Jamie wasted five set points in the second tiebreaker of their 7-6 (6), 7-6 (14) loss against Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci and Andre Sa, Andy said he would skip mixed doubles and let his brother play with Jo Konta.

“I’ll concentrate on the singles now,” Andy said. “I’ll get a day off tomorrow and recover. It’s been a long day.”

MORE CYCLING CRASHES

After a series of spills in the men’s Olympic road race left cyclists with broken bones and bloody road rash, it seemed as if the women’s race Sunday was going to escape serious injury.

That all changed in a fraction of a second.

Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten, barreling down the final descent of Vista Chinesa in the lead, hit the deck in a spectacular fall. Her bike catapulted into the air, and van Vleuten lay motionless on the side of the road while the rest of the field cautiously swept past her.

She was transported to a Rio de Janeiro hospital and diagnosed with a concussion and three small fractures of her spine, and was to remain in intensive care for at least 24 hours.

“It was horrendous crash,” said road race silver medalist Emma Johansson of Sweden. “The peloton is so small and we all know each other very well. I just hope she’s OK.”

So dangerous was the course over the first two days of the cycling program at the Rio Games that the International Cycling Union was forced to defend it, pointing to a test event and numerous training opportunities that gave riders a chance to familiarize themselves with it.

It didn’t appear to do much good.

The carnage began on Saturday when Giro d’ Italia winner Vincenzo Nibali and Colombia climber Sergio Henao were leading on the same slippery, technical descent. Nibali likely would have won gold had he been able to stay upright, but wound up heading to the hospital instead.

His coach, Davide Cassani, said that the Italian broke his collarbone in the fall.

Henao fractured the upper part of his pelvis in his wreck, while Australia’s Richie Porte broke his scapula in another crash, an accident that will keep him out of Wednesday’s time trial.

Geraint Thomas of Britain and Nelson Oliviera of Portugal also hit the pavement.

“It was anarchy out there,” American rider Brent Bookwalter said.

Nibali actually warned Italy teammate Elisa Longo Borghini about the chaotic final descent ahead of the women’s race, so she took it a bit slower on Sunday and wound up earning a bronze medal.

Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands took gold.

“It’s a difficult descent because you can go really fast but you also have to corner,” she said. “After the men’s race I think we were all warned that we needed to take care of the descent and we did. Of course, if you’re riding in front, maybe you take too much risk. I don’t know.”

The course was widely regarded as the toughest in Olympic history, even before the first riders set off on it. Long stretches of flats gave way to pounding cobblestones that caused numerous mechanical issues, and a hard series of climbs shook up the fields even before Vista Chinesa.

Then they came to the climb that defined both races.

Olympic courses tend to be flat affairs with a few small climbs thrown in to spice things up — nothing compared to the 10-kilometer climb in Rio. That means riders also rarely see such a hard, sharp descent, one that becomes all the more treacherous so close to a gold medal.

“Everybody wants to win. Yeah, everybody’s taking risks,” men’s gold medalist Greg Van Avermaet said. “Some guys probably went over the limit and that’s why it happened. I think the road was pretty good. I was happy to stay safe. I think I took a little bit of risk, but not too much, and I think this was the best decision because if you’re on the ground, the race is over.”

SCORES, RANKINGS, MEDALS

ARCHERY

Women’s Team

Semifinals

South Korea (Misun Choi; Bobae Ki; Hyejin Chang), def. Taiwan (Chien-Ying Le; Shih-Chia Lin; Ya-Ting Tan), 5-1.

Russia (Tuiana Dashidorzhieva; Inna Stepanova; Ksenia Perova), def. Italy (Guendalina Sartori; Claudia Mandia; Lucilla Boari), 5-3.

Bronze Medal Match

Taiwan (Chien-Ying Le; Ya-Ting Tan; Shih-Chia Lin), def. Italy (Guendalina Sartori; Lucilla Boari; Claudia Mandia), 5-3.

Gold Medal Match

South Korea (Misun Choi; Hyejin Chang; Bobae Ki), def. Russia (Tuiana Dashidorzhieva; Inna Stepanova; Ksenia Perova), 5-1.

___

CYCLING

Women’s Road Race

1. Anna van der Breggen, Netherlands, 3:51:27.

2. Emma Johansson, Sweden, 3:51:27.

3. Elisa Longo Borghini, Italy, 3:51:27.

4. Mara Abbott, United States, 3:51:31.

5. Elizabeth Armitstead, Britain, 3:51:47.

6. Katarzyna Niewiadoma, Poland, 3:51:47.

7. Flavia Oliveira, Brazil, 3:51:47.

8. Jolanda Neff, Switzerland, 3:51:47.

9. Marianne Vos, Netherlands, 3:52:41.

Other Americans

11. Megan Guarnier, United States, 3:52:41.

12. Evelyn Stevens, United States, 3:52:43.

54. Kristin Armstrong, United States, DNF.

___

DIVING

Women

Synchronised 3m Springboard

Final

1. China (Shi Tingmao; Wu Minxia Wu), 345.60.

2. Italy (Tania Cagnotto; Francesca Dallape’), 313.83.

3. Australia (Maddison Keeney; Anabelle Smith), 299.19.

4. Canada (Jennifer Abel; Pamela Ware), 298.32.

5. Malaysia (Jun Hoong Cheong; Nur Dhabitah Sabri), 293.40.

6. Britain (Alicia Blagg; Rebecca Gallantree), 292.83.

7. Germany (Tina Punzel; Nora Subschinski), 284.25.

8. Brazil (Tammy Takagi; Juliana Veloso), 258.75.

___

FENCING

Men’s Foil

Quarterfinals

Daniele Garozzo, Italy, def. Guilherme Toldo, Brazil, 15-8.

Timur Safin, Russia, def. Haiwei Chen, China, 15-7.

Richard Kruse, Britain, def. Gerek Meinhardt, United States, 15-13.

Alexander Massialas, United States, def. Giorgio Avola, Italy, 15-14.

Semifinals

Daniele Garozzo, Italy, def. Timur Safin, Russia, 15-8.

Alexander Massialas, United States, def. Richard Kruse, Britain, 15-9.

Bronze Medal

Timur Safin, Russia, def. Richard Kruse, Britain, 15-13.

Gold Medal

Daniele Garozzo, Italy, def. Alexander Massialas, United States, 15-11.

___

JUDO

Men -66 kg

Quarterfinals

Baul An, South Korea, def. Rishod Sobirov, Uzbekistan, Wazari, Seoi-nage, 5:00.

Masashi Ebinuma, Japan, def. Wander Mateo, Dominican Republic, Ippon, Seoi-nage, 4:14.

Fabio Basile, Italy, def. Tumurkhuleg Davaadorj, Mongolia, Ippon, 4:00.

Adrian Gomboc, Slovenia, def. Antoine Bouchard, Canada, Ippon, 4:09.

Repechage

Rishod Sobirov, Uzbekistan, def. Wander Mateo, Dominican Republic, Ippon, Uchi-mata, 3:02.

Antoine Bouchard, Canada, def. Tumurkhuleg Davaadorj, Mongolia, Wazari, Ouchi-gari, 5:00.

Semifinal A

Baul An, South Korea, def. Masashi Ebinuma, Japan, Yuko, Undetermined, 5:00.

Semifinal B

Fabio Basile, Italy, def. Adrian Gomboc, Slovenia, Penalty, 5:00.

Bronze Medal A

Rishod Sobirov, Uzbekistan, def. Adrian Gomboc, Slovenia, Ippon, Okuri-eri-jime, 3:20.

Bronze Medal B

Masashi Ebinuma, Japan, def. Antoine Bouchard, Canada, Ippon, Seoi-nage, 4:06.

Gold Medal

Fabio Basile, Italy, def. Baul An, South Korea, Ippon, Seoi-otoshi, 1:24.

Women -52 kg

Quarterfinals

Odette Giuffrida, Italy, def. Andreea Chitu, Romania, Yuko, De-ashi-barai, 4:00.Yingnan Ma, China, def. Erika Miranda, Brazil, Wazari, Ouchi-gari, 4:00.

Majlinda Kelmendi, Kosovo, def. Christianne Legentil, Mauritius, Penalty, 4:00.

Misato Nakamura, Japan, def. Natalia Kuziutina, Russia, Ippon, Ude-hishigi-ude-gatame, 4:00.

Repechage

Erika Miranda, Brazil, def. Andreea Chitu, Romania, Ippon, Uchi-mata, 3:32.

Natalia Kuziutina, Russia, def. Christianne Legentil, Mauritius, Ippon, Tate-shiho-gatame, 4:00.

Semifinal A

Odette Giuffrida, Italy, def. Yingnan Ma, China, Penalty, Non-Combativity, 4:00.

Semifinal B

Majlinda Kelmendi, Kosovo, def. Misato Nakamura, Japan, Penalty, Defensive-Posture, 4:00.

Bronze Medal A

Misato Nakamura, Japan, def. Erika Miranda, Brazil, Yuko, Ouchi-gari, 4:00.

Bronze Medal B

Natalia Kuziutina, Russia, def. Yingnan Ma, China, Ippon, 2:37.

Gold Medal

Majlinda Kelmendi, Kosovo, def. Odette Giuffrida, Italy, Yuko, Uchi-mata, 4:00.

___

SHOOTING

Women’s 10m Air Pistol

Finals

1. Mengxue Zhang, China, 199.4.

2. Vitalina Batsarashkina, Russia, 197.1.

3. Anna Korakaki, Greece, 177.7.

4. Alejandra Zavala Vazquez, Mexico, 157.1.

5. Afaf Elhodhod, Egypt, 137.1.

6. Sonia Franquet, Spain, 116.5.

7. Bobana Velickovic, Serbia, 96.4.

8. Ekaterina Korshunova, Russia, 73.5.

Women’s Trap

Semifinals

1. Catherine Skinner, Australia, 14 (QG).

2. Natalie Rooney, New Zealand, 13 (QG).

3. Corey Cogdell, United States, 13 (QB).

4. Fatima Galvez, Spain, 12 (QB).

5. Laetisha Scanlan, Australia, 10.

6. Jessica Rossi, Italy, 10.

Bronze Medal Match

Corey Cogdell, United States, def. Fatima Galvez, Spain, 13-13 (1-0 remarks).

Gold Medal Match

Catherine Skinner, Australia, def. Natalie Rooney, New Zealand, 12-11.

___

SWIMMING

Men’s 100m Breaststroke

Final

1. Adam Peaty, Britain, 57.13.

2. Cameron van der Burgh, South Africa, 58.69.

3. Cody Miller, United States, 58.87.

4. Kevin Cordes, United States, 59.22.

5. Joao Gomes, Brazil, 59.31.

6. Yasuhiro Koseki, Japan, 59.37.

7. Felipe Franca, Brazil, 59.38.

8. Dmitriy Balandin, Kazakhstan, 59.95.

Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay

Final

1. United States (Ryan Held; Michael Phelps; Caeleb Dressel; Nathan Adrian), 3:09.92.

2. France (Fabien Gilot; Florent Manaudou; Mehdy Metella; Jeremy Stravius), 3:10.53.

3. Australia (James Magnussen; James Roberts; Kyle Chalmers; Cameron McEvoy), 3:11.37.

4. Russia (Andrey Grechin; Alexander Sukhorukov; Danila Izotov; Vladimir Morozov), 3:11.64.

5. Brazil (Joao de Lucca; Nicolas Nilo; Marcelo Chierighini; Gabriel Santos), 3:13.21.

6. Belgium (Jasper Aerents; Pieter Timmers; Glenn Surgeloose; Emmanuel Vanluchene), 3:13.57.

7. Canada (Santo Condorelli; Markus Thormeyer; Yuri Kisil; Evan Van Moerkerke), 3:14.35.

8. Japan (Katsumi Nakamura; Kenji Kobase; Shinri Shioura; Junya Koga), 3:14.48.

Women’s 100m Butterfly

Final

1. Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden, 55.48.

2. Penny Oleksiak, Canada, 56.46.

3. Dana Vollmer, United States, 56.63.

4. Xinyi Chen, China, 56.72.

5. Ying Lu, China, 56.76.

6. Rikako Ikee, Japan, 56.86.

7. Emma McKeon, Australia, 57.05.

8. Jeanette Ottesen, Denmark, 57.17.

Women’s 400m Freestyle

Final

1. Kathleen Ledecky, United States, 3:56.46.

2. Jazz Carlin, Britain, 4:01.23.

3. Leah Smith, United States, 4:01.92.

4. Boglarka Kapas, Hungary, 4:02.37.

5. Brittany Maclean, Canada, 4:04.69.

6. Tamsin Cook, Australia, 4:05.30.

7. Jessica Ashwood, Australia, 4:05.68.

8. Coralie Balmy, France, 4:06.98.

___

WEIGHTLIFTING

Men’s 56kg Group A

1. Qingquan Long, China (137-170), 307 kg.-676 pounds.

2. Yun Chol Om, North Korea (134-169), 303 kg.-668 pounds.

3. Sinphet Kruaithong, Thailand (132-157), 289 kg.-637 pounds.

4. Arli Chontey, Kazakhstan (130-148), 278 kg.-612 pounds.

5. le Quoc Toan Tran, Vietnam (121-154), 275 kg.-606 pounds.

6. Habib de Las Salas de la Rosa, Colombia (119-147), 266 kg.-586 pounds.

7. Mirco Scarantino, Italy (115-149), 264 kg.-582 pounds.

8. Witoon Mingmoon, Thailand (113-148), 261 kg.-575 pounds.

Women’s 53kg Group A

1. Shu-Ching Hsu, Taiwan (100-112), 212 kg.-467 pounds.

2. Hidilyn Diaz, Philippines (88-112), 200 kg.-440 pounds.

3. Jin Hee Yoon, South Korea (88-111), 199 kg.-438 pounds.

4. Rebeka Koha, Latvia (90-107), 197 kg.-434 pounds.

5. Rosane dos Reis Santos, Brazil (90-103), 193 kg.-425 pounds.

6. Dewi Safitri, Indonesia (80-105), 185 kg.-407 pounds.