The Williams sisters of the United States defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 6-2 6-0 to take the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Venus's and Serena's doubles record at the Olympics is 10-0. Eight years ago they won the gold in Sydney but they didn’t play in Athens four years later because Serena was hurt.

The bronze was won by Yan Zi and Zheng Jie of China who beat Ukraine's Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2 6-2. (photo via Yahoo)

Elena Dementieva is the singles gold medalist at the Beijing Olympics, having defeated fellow Russian Dinara Safina 3-6 7-5 6-3.

What an achievement for Russian tennis, all the three medals were taken by Russian players with Dementieva winning the gold, Safina silver and Zvonareva bronze with a victory 6-0 7-5 over China's Li Na.

Dementieva took advantage of 17 double-fault committed by Safina, plus, the eventual champion Dementieva hit twice as many winners, 26 to 13.

"I never expected a medal — gold, silver or bronze," said Dementieva. "It's unbelievable. For me this is the best moment in my career. I'll never forget it."

The 26-year-old Dementieva won the silver medal in Sydney in 2000. (source: ESPN, photo via Tennis Info Blog)

The Williams sisters weren't so successful in singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but in doubles they beat Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-4 4-6 6-1 to reach the final.

The final in Beijing will be Serena's and Venus's second Olympic doubles final, as they together claimed gold medal in Sydney eight years ago.

In the Sunday's match the Williams sisters will play either Chinese pair Zheng Zie and Yan Zi or French Open champions Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain. (source: Reuters, photo: Getty Images)

Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva will fight for the gold medal in an all-Russian final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In the semifinals the sixth-seeded Safina overcame China's Li Na 7-6(3) 7-5, while the fifth-seeded Dementieva, a silver medalist in Sydney eight years ago, defeated compatriot Vera Zvonareva 6-3 7-6(3).

Safina, who achieved her 15th straight singles victory, overcame 12 double faults in the semifinal against home favorite Li, including four in the sixth game of the opening set and four in the fifth game of the second. However, Li was no stranger to mistakes either – the world No.42 made 69 unforced errors. Well, no wonder Safina was double faulting – the victory over Li came playing barely 12 hours after she lost a doubles match that lasted until 3:30 a.m. local time.

Safina is 5-2 all-time against her childhood friend Dementieva.

Na Li and Vera Zvonareva will play for the bronze medal. (sources: The Sports Network, BBC)

World number one Jelena Jankovic lost 6-2 5-7 6-3 to in-form Dinara Safina of Russia in the quarterfinals of the Olympic Tennis Event in Beijing.

The second-seeded Serb was too weak for big-hitting Safina. Despite great fight, you know JJ never gives up, it was quite clear that Safina will overpower her in the end. However, considering Jankovic's health, she advanced more than far enough in Beijing.

There are three Russians in the semifinals (Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva, and Dinara Safina) and one home favorite Li Na.

Additional info: Because of bad weather the schedule of the Olympic Tennis Event had to be rearranged. The women's singles semifinals will be played on Saturday, while the final will be played on Sunday. (photo: Getty Images)

Maria Sharapova had to skip the 2008 Beijing Olympics because of a shoulder injury, and as you know she's currently rehabilitating in Arizona. But it's not all work and no play for the Russian. We see she's having a good time skiing on water, posing in nature, enjoying good meals. Well, it's not that we expected Masha to get too depressed. More photos after the cut. Read more »

Shortly after her sister Serena lost to Elena Dementieva, seventh seed Venus Williams was beaten by home favorite Li Na 7-5 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

"Venus was the best player in the world, she has just won Wimbledon," said Li, the first Chinese player to enter the top 20 in the world rankings. "She has big serves that I can't receive but I told myself to calm down and play my best."

"Wow! You can't see this kind of crowd anywhere else. It helped me and pushed me a lot. This is a present I give to the Beijing Olympic Games but I have no time to celebrate. I have more matches to go."

In the semifinals world No.42 Li Na will face the winner of the match between Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina. The other semifinal is set and includes Russians Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonareva. (source: Reuters, photo: Getty Images)

It's the first time I see Serena Williams' tattoo on the nape of her neck. Is it a heart (as fellow blogger Rich thinks, the former number one might be revealing secret love to the world) or possibly some symbol? You see how the lines on the top of the heart are crossed, that doesn't seem to be just a regular heart.

Additional info: At the Olympic Tennis Event fourth-seeded Serena was knocked out by Russian Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals. Williams' game was sloppy in the previous round against Alize Cornet, and she didn't manage to raise her game enough to fight off Dementieva, despite powering through the opening set. Losing to the Russian 3-6 6-4 6-3 chances of an all-Williams final at the Olympics have been ruined.

American Serena Williams defeated France's Alize Cornet 3-6 6-3 6-4 and joined sister Venus in the quarterfinals of the Olympics Tennis Event in Beijing. The possibility of an all-Williams final is still alive.

During the match Serena made 48 unforced errors and had her serve broken on three of five occasions.

The fourth seed even smashed a racquet in frustration. "It was in the middle of the first set," said Williams. "I missed so many shots and I was not playing anywhere near the way I was practising, so it was just kind of frustrating to have practised so well and to come out and do the total opposite."

In the end, however, great hope of French women's tennis Alize Cornet surrendered to her mightier opponent.

Next for Serena is fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia, a silver medalist in Sydney eight years ago. (source: Xinhua, photo: Getty Images)

World number four Serena Williams is appearing in the latest issue of the Men’s Fitness magazine, which names her as one of the sexiest female athletes in the world. Read more »