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RIO DE JANEIRO. — Defending champion Serena Williams ended a three-match losing streak against France’s Alize Cornet to keep her hopes of a fifth Olympic tennis gold medal alive on Monday. But it was a rollercoaster 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 victory for the 34-year-old world number one who 24 hours earlier had suffered her first ever Olympic Games women’s doubles loss with sister Venus.Cornet defeated the American star three times in 2014, including at Wimbledon, and proved to be a thorn in her opponent’s side again in Rio.

Williams led 3-0 and had two points for a 4-0 advantage in the first set.

But Cornet stormed back, forcing the American to save two set points in the 10th game before the top seed sealed the tiebreak after 77 minutes on a chilly centre court.

The 22-time major winner cut a frustrated figure, smashing her racquet into the ground at one stage. — AFP.