Venus and Serena Williams win doubles title at Beijing Olympics

Venus and Serena Williams win doubles title at Beijing OlympicsThe 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 wins Olympic gold, Russians take all medals

Elena Dementieva wins Olympic gold, Russians take all medalsElena 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)

Serena and Venus Williams into doubles final at the Beijing Olympics

Serena and Venus Williams in doubles final at the Beijing OlympicsThe 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, Elena Dementieva in the final of the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva in the final of the 2008 Beijing OlympicsDinara 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)

Jelena Jankovic beaten in Olympic quarters by Dinara Safina

Jelena JankovicWorld 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)


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