Venus Williams lost the only doubles match she's ever played as a pro without sister Serena. Venus and first-time partner Chanda Rubin were beaten 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 by eighth-seeded Li Ting and Sun Tian Tian of China in the first round of the Olympic tournament Monday night.

Williams won the doubles gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Games with Serena, who pulled out of these Olympics last week because of a lingering left knee injury. The siblings have won six Grand Slam titles as a team.

Because Serena withdrew after the deadline for adding players to the roster, only Rubin — already on the US team in singles — could fill in.

Asked about Serena's absence, Venus said: "I'm here playing for the USA. I love playing with Chanda Rubin. That's not even part of the equation."

But as Li put it: "They are just half the defending champions."

Not only was Venus playing with a new partner, she hadn't competed in doubles at all since losing in the third round at Wimbledon in July 2003.

"It was both of our first doubles match in a year, and this is out first time playing together," Venus said. "A lot of shots that we normally would have made, we just were a little rusty."

The Chinese pair's seeding is a bit deceptive. They've only been past the third round once at a major, and they came to the Olympics on a four-match losing streak.

With the American pair trailing 4-3 in the final set, and Rubin serving, she put a backhand volley into the net to give the Chinese duo a break point. Rubin hung her head, and Williams went over to her partner and put a palm on her back, as if to say, "That's OK. Don't worry about it."

But on the next point, Williams' forehand volley sailed long, allowing Li and Sun to take a 5-3 lead.

"Both of us could have played a little bit better at key times," Rubin said. "Speaking for myself, I definitely could have been a little bit better, especially early in the match and toward the end."

With groups of fans chanting "U-S-A!" and others responding with "Chi-na! Chi-na!", Sun then served out the match at love. Rubin sent a forehand long, Williams' backhand return popped 20 feet into the air then landed well wide, and Li hit a volley winner to get to match point.

It all ended when Williams put a backhand return into the net.

Sun hopped and skipped to the net with her arms raised, and Li met her for a hug. On the other side of the net, Williams and Rubin put their arms around each other's shoulders as fans rose for a standing ovation.

The match was this tight: Each team won 85 points.

"Until now, it is the best match we've won," Li said through a translator. "This victory alone is not enough to say that we will win the gold."

(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2004)