Kerri Walsh Jennings, April Ross off to strong start, but challenges ahead

RIO DE JANEIRO — Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross won their Round of 16 match easily in Copacabana early on Saturday morning, beating Italy’s Marta Menegatti and Laura Giombini in straight sets.

It was a strong match from Walsh Jennings and Ross, and despite a few unforced errors early in the second set, they were able to lock down and close out the match.

Menegatti and Giombini are a new pairing, both defenders, and looked happy just to be there playing at midnight in front of the big crowd.

“We had no video on them,” said Ross. “So we knew we just had to focus on ourselves.”

It was an easy win, and now four matches into their first Olympic campaign together, we’ve seen just enough to start answering the question: Is this pair ready to win gold?

After the retirement of Walsh Jennings’ former partner, Misty May-Treanor, Ross seemed the obvious choice to replace her. Ross had won the silver medal at London in 2012, and who better to replace the seemingly irreplaceable May-Treanor than one of the women who had come so close to topping them?

Ross and Walsh Jennings are a natural fit as well. Both have length and power, and Ross is a strong defender and covers a lot of ground deep. Walsh Jennings is one of the greatest net players to ever live, if not the single greatest.

And they’re growing together.

“Trust and chemistry, you have to grow that,” Walsh Jennings said. “You can’t force it.”

With Walsh Jennings coming off three straight gold medals, it would seem like they’d be easy favorites to capture gold.

But the rest of the world is catching up.

Entering the Olympics, the top two ranked teams in the world were both Brazilian, with Walsh Jennings and Ross entering as the third favorite for gold. No. 1 ranked duo Larissa França and Talita Antunes looked far more a sure thing in qualifying than the Americans — and the duo has not dropped a set in four straight matches, easily dispatching German pair Karla Borger and Britta Buthe in the Round of 16. The Germans entered the tournament as the No. 9 ranked team of the world.

The “second” Brazilian team, comprised of Agatha Bednarczuk Rippel and Barbara Seixas, have dropped just one set on their way to the quarterfinals, and it’s looking more and more like the two of them will meet Walsh Jennings and Ross in the semifinals.

Larissa and Talita, as they go by here in Brazil, loom on the other side of the bracket.

Walsh Jennings and Ross wouldn’t discuss any other remaining teams after the match.

“We respect this whole tournament,” Walsh Jennings said. “Whoever is here deserves to be here. Whoever we have next, we’re excited.”

The Brazilians have understandably been buoyed by the home crowd, who turn out en masse to the stadium in Copacabana Beach to support the teams. And it’s not like Walsh Jennings and Ross are limping into the quarterfinals — they have dropped just one set as well so far. (It was just Walsh Jennings’ second dropped set in her Olympic career.)

It’s just for many Americans, Walsh Jennings’ name has become synonymous with gold. She very well might get there again, but this year may be difficult.