Sabine Lisicki and Angelique Kerber could only reach the round of 16 in the women's Olympic doubles at Wimbledon despite being seeded fifth.

Veteran sisters Venus and Serena Williams powered through the first set, winning 6-2 in a little over half an hour.

The second set was a far tighter affair. Lisicki and Kerber immediately broke back to recover a 2-0 deficit and then the game went with serve up until the score stood at 5-5. The US double act then broke serve and finally held their own to win the second set 7-5.

Venus and Serena hit more aces, more winners, fewer unforced errors and fewer double faults in a dominant display as they seek their third Olympic doubles gold medal as a pairing. They won the grand doubles prize in Sydney in 2000 and in Beijing four years ago.

Still alive individually

Kerber has an immediate chance at partial revenge in the singles competition; she plays Venus Williams in the last 16 on Wednesday. Kerber, seeded seventh overall, demolished Hungary's Timea Babos 6-1, 6-1 in her second round singles encounter earlier on Tuesday.

Lisicki had a tougher time en route to the last 16, surviving a third-set match point to ultimately win 4-6, 6-0, 7-5 against a strong challenge from unseeded Tunisian teenager Ons Jabeur.

"Yeesss!! Saved a match point and then won the third set!!! I love fighting thru those matches! ESP when I'm playing for Germany!" Lisicki wrote on her Twitter account, posting a similar sentiment in German as well.

Lisicki goes on to play Russian star Maria Sharapova on the Wimbledon grass courts in the next round. Last month in the Wimbledon open tournament, Lisicki surprisingly beat Sharapova in straight sets, before losing to her Germany doubles partner and childhood friend Kerber in the quarter-finals.

Author: Mark Hallam
Editor: Matt Zuvela