Date | 12 – 17 August 2008 | |
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Status | Olympic | |
Location | Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan Wangqiuchang, Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan, Beijing | |
Participants | 62 from 21 countries | |
Format | Single-elimination tournament. |
The best doubles team in the world was the Williams’ sisters – Venus and Serena. They had won this gold medal in 2000 but could not defend it in 2004 due to injuries sustained by Serena. In 2008 they had finished 1-2 at Wimbledon and were heavily favored to win this event. However, they did not play all that often so were only seeded #2, behind Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina. The Russian duo went out somewhat early, however, in a long three-set match in the quarters, losing to China’s Yan Zi / Zheng Jie, 6-3, 5-7, 10-8.
The Williams survived a scare in the semi-finals when they were pushed to three sets by the Ukrainian sister team of Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko, but winning the third set easily, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. This set up a final against Spain’s Anabel Medina and Vivi Ruano, which turned out to be close to a walkover, as the Williams won the gold medal, 6-2, 6-0. They would return in 2012 and win the doubles gold medal for a third time. Yan and Zheng won the bronze medal over the Bondarenko’s, 6-2, 6-2.
Winners advanced to round two.
Winners advanced to quarter-finals.
Match #1 | Svetlana Kuznetsova / Dinara Safina | ![]() | Sania Mirza / Sunitha Rao | ![]() | 6-4, 6-4 | ||
Match #2 | Yan Zi / Zheng Jie | ![]() | Emmanuelle Gagliardi / Patty Schnyder | ![]() | 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) | ||
Match #3 | Anabel Medina / Vivi Ruano | ![]() | Samantha Stosur / Rennae Stubbs | ![]() | 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 | ||
Match #4 | Lindsay Davenport / Liezel Huber | ![]() | Vika Azarenka / Tatsiana Poutchak | ![]() | 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 | ||
Match #5 | Alona Bondarenko / Kateryna Bondarenko | ![]() | Volha Havartsova / Daria Kustava | ![]() | 6-1, 6-3 | ||
Match #6 | Flavia Pennetta / Francesca Schiavone | ![]() | Chan Yung-Jan / Chuang Chia-Jung | ![]() | 7-6 (7-1), 1-6, 8-6 | ||
Match #7 | Yelena Vesnina / Vera Zvonaryova | ![]() | Gisela Dulko / Betina Jozami | ![]() | 6-2, 6-3 | ||
Match #8 | Serena Williams / Venus Williams | ![]() | Ayumi Morita / Ai Sugiyama | ![]() | 7-5, 6-2 |
Winners advanced to semi-finals.
Match #1 | Yan Zi / Zheng Jie | ![]() | Svetlana Kuznetsova / Dinara Safina | ![]() | 6-3, 5-7, 10-8 | ||
Match #2 | Anabel Medina / Vivi Ruano | ![]() | Lindsay Davenport / Liezel Huber | ![]() | 5-7, 7-6 (–-6), 8-6 | ||
Match #3 | Alona Bondarenko / Kateryna Bondarenko | ![]() | Flavia Pennetta / Francesca Schiavone | ![]() | 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 | ||
Match #4 | Serena Williams / Venus Williams | ![]() | Yelena Vesnina / Vera Zvonaryova | ![]() | 6-4, 6-0 |
Winners advanced to final round.
Match #1 | Anabel Medina / Vivi Ruano | ![]() | Yan Zi / Zheng Jie | ![]() | 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) | ||
Match #2 | Serena Williams / Venus Williams | ![]() | Alona Bondarenko / Kateryna Bondarenko | ![]() | 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 |
Match 1/2 | Serena Williams / Venus Williams | ![]() | Anabel Medina / Vivi Ruano | ![]() | 6-2, 6-0 | ||
Match 3/4 | Yan Zi / Zheng Jie | ![]() | Alona Bondarenko / Kateryna Bondarenko | ![]() | 6-2, 6-2 |