ot above the rim and slammed it home for a 55-28 A&M lead.I wish I could jump like him, Kennedy said.ROLE PLAYERWilliams came off the bench in his first college game and made 3-of-5

RIO DE JANEIRO -- One destroyed racket -- and one poor set -- later, Serena Williams made it safely into the third round of the Rio Olympics as she bids for a second consecutive singles gold medal.The No. 1-seeded American struggled for quite a while Monday night, before emerging with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory over Frances Alize Cornet, despite making 36 unforced errors and getting broken four times.I just needed to relax. I was missing shots by, literally, centimeters, and Im not really used to missing those shots, Williams said. I really had to figure out a way to adjust.Williams started well enough, taking the first three games and compiling 17 of the matchs first 21 winners. But then she dropped 5 of 6 games to fall behind 5-4.During that troublesome stretch, Williams reacted to losing two games in a row by mangling the tool of her trade, slamming it against the back of her green-and-white sideline bench before depositing it on the ground. Hardly the first time shes done that sort of thing -- and likely not the last, either.In her previous tournament, Wimbledon, Williams broke a racket after losing the opening set of a second-rounder against American Christina McHale. Williams then flung the racket so far behind her that it landed in the lap of a TV cameraman filming the match.From that point on, Williams didnt drop a set the rest of the way at the All England Club, taking 12 in a row to earn her record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title.She didnt quite generate that sort of spark Monday, 24 hours after she and older sister Venus lost an Olympic doubles match for the first time. They had been 15-0 with three golds, but that run is now over.So, too, is Cornets three-match winning streak against the younger Williams.Thats because Williams cut down on her mistakes in the second set.How?Just tried to add a little bit more spin, she explained. If its going out, maybe Im hitting it a little bit too flat.After three No. 1 seeds exited Sunday -- Serbias Novak Djokovic in mens singles, the Williams sisters in womens doubles, and Frances Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in mens doubles -- Williams avoided that sort of result in singles. But Djokovics Olympics are over, because after he and Nenad Zimonjic lost 6-4, 6-4 to Brazils Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares, the 12-time major champion said he will not enter mixed doubles in Rio de Janeiro.Williams singles match was touch-and-go for more than an hour. Cornet held a pair of set points in the opener but failed to convert either. Then Williams served for that set at 6-5, only to get broken at love when she double-faulted for the fifth time. In the tiebreaker, Cornet went ahead 5-4 before Williams claimed the next three points and the set.She raced to a 3-0 edge in the second set, and that was pretty much that.No tennis player ever has won two Olympic singles golds -- let alone two in a row. But Williams is not just any player, of course. Which is why it was rather remarkable that Cornet, who is ranked only 48th and never made it past the fourth round of a major in 42 appearances, entered Monday with a 4-3 record against Williams.She knows how to play me, Williams said. Every time I play her, Im not in my best shape.Joining Williams in the third round: No. 2 Angelique Kerber of Germany, No. 3 Garbine Muguruza of Spain and No. 7 Madison Keys of the U.S.Elsewhere, the man who got stuck in an elevator for 40 minutes and then beat Djokovic in singles on Sunday, Argentinas Juan Martin del Potro, got to the third round with another win in singles but lost to Spains Rafael Nadal in doubles.Del Potro produced a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Portugals Joao Sousa, before heading back out on court with partner Maximo Gonzalez and getting beaten by Marc Lopez and Nadal 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. Add it all up, and del Potro spent nearly 7 hours on court in a span of barely 25 hours.In a tournament that began without half of the ATPs top 10, del Potro looks like someone who might be able to add another medal to his 2012 bronze.Because of injuries, del Potro went 2 1/2 years without participating in a major until Wimbledon, so one big question is what his fitness level is.Im getting better. Im in good shape, he said, but I dont know if Im prepared to play six or more matches.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Tyler Davis tallied game highs with 16 points and 10 rebounds and fellow big man Tonny Trocha-Morelos added 11 points as Texas A&M overpowered Northwestern State for a 72-44 victory on Friday night to open the season.We knew we had the size advantage, so we just played to our strengths in this game, Davis said. We just tried to execute and run our offense, and see what we can get.The Aggies dominated inside, outscoring the Demons 42-8 in the paint.Thats where we want the ball, A&M coach Billy Kennedy said of A&Ms guards following his game plan.The games outcome was never in doubt, as A&M quickly built on a 12-point halftime lead, and had more than doubled up the Demons at 57-28 about halfway through the second half. A&M shot 46 percent (28 of 61) from the field, while holding NSU to 28 percent (12 of 43).They have size and strength, Demons coach Mike McConathy said of the Aggies. In the second half, they were just too much.The Demons were led by Zeek Woodleys 10 points, and Ishmael Lane added eight points. The Aggies led 33-21 at the break, thanks largely to shutting down the Demons 18-0 in the paint over the first 20 minutes.The Aggies replaced four senior starters from last years Sweet 16 team, but didnt miss a beat in the opener.People talk about the seniors who left, but we know that were capable of doing the same thing, (maybe) better, Trocha-Morelos said. We just have to show people were here to play basketball.BIG PICTURENorthwestern State: The Demons figure even with a tough early schedule -facing SEC and Big 12 foes for starters -- their stiff competition helps prepare them for Southlaand Conference play.dddddddddddd And that theres plenty to learn from even in a 28-point loss.Texas A&M: The Aggies did exactly what coach Billy Kennedy promised in the offseason, mostly running the offense through their talented big men, often resisting the urge to just get out and run against an overmatched opponent.STAT OF THE NIGHTThe Aggies didnt even allow the Demons a point in the paint in the first half, and wound up with a 42-8 advantage. The Demons could do nothing with bullish center Davis, a member of the SEC coaches preseason first team.TURNING POINTThe Aggies led only 25-19 with 2:50 left in the first half when sharpshooter D.J. Hogg coolly drained a 3-pointer, deflating the Demons hopes of keeping the game tight at the break.CROWD PLEASERA crowd pleaser occurred with about 12 minutes remaining in the game, when A&M guard Admon Gilder tossed an alley oop to dynamic freshman forward Robert Williams, who snagged the pass a foot above the rim and slammed it home for a 55-28 A&M lead.I wish I could jump like him, Kennedy said.ROLE PLAYERWilliams came off the bench in his first college game and made 3-of-5 from the field for six points, He also snagged seven rebounds, tying for second with Tavario Miller behind Tyler Daviss game-high 10. His five blocks were four more than anyone else in the game.UP NEXTNorthwestern State will try and get its first victory of the season on Sunday afternoon at Oklahoma.Texas A&M will try and stay unbeaten against American on Monday night in Reed Arena. ' ' '