Venus Williams and Serena Williams of the United States talk during a break from a practice session ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games at the Olympic Tennis Centre on August 3, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo : Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
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Team USA tennis players Venus Williams and Madison Keys are confident one or more players from their team will end up winning medals in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Williams and Keys appeared in a press conference on Wednesday night, where both players said that all of them are focused on the task at hand. For her part, Williams was asked about the ongoing Black protest back home. She addressed it for a while but dodged more questions about it.
Williams said that they know they have a good shot at winning a more than one medal in the Rio Games. It is the main reason why all of them are not thinking of issues and distractions heading into the tournament.
“We could take more than one medal home. So I think that’s what we’re focused on right now,” Williams said via Yahoo Sports. “We can’t focus on anything, any movement – especially anything happening in the States.”
The 36-year-old Williams has all the reason to be optimistic based on their previous performance in the Olympics. Her younger sister won the singles gold medal in 2012 in London. Venus also has four Olympic gold medals to boast, winning the singles gold in 2000 and capturing the doubles gold in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
Meanwhile, Keys is also looking forward to representing Unites States in the Rio Games. The 21-year-old is not expecting anything easy in the tournament but reiterated that she ready for the challenge.
“The Olympic experience makes a really good year just that much more special,” Keys said via QC Online. “I look forward to all the challenges.”
Keys added that preparing for the Olympics is different from readying herself in other tournaments, knowing that there are bigger stakes in the Summer Games. But while there is pressure on her shoulders, the debuting Olympian said that she is determined to prove her worth.
“I love representing the USA,” Keys continued. “I want to make the country proud.”
Keys, the ninth seed in the women’s competition, will kick off her campaign against Canadian Eugenie Bouchard on Saturday. The fifth-seeded Williams, on the other hand, will collide with Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium in the first round.
