Americans Cheng and Hughes Fall in Beach Volleyball Upset

The top-ranked American pair of Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes were knocked out of the Olympic beach volleyball tournament in straight sets by Nina Brunner and Tanja Huberli of Switzerland.

Top-ranked American beach volleyball duo Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes were eliminated from the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday, falling to Swiss pair Nina Brunner and Tanja Huberli in straight sets.

The Americans, who entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed, were upset by Brunner and Huberli 21-19, 21-16 in front of a limited crowd at Shiokaze Park.

Americans Cheng and Hughes Fall in Beach Volleyball Upset

Cheng and Hughes, who won the bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, looked out of sorts from the start. They made a number of uncharacteristic errors in the first set, and Brunner and Huberli took full advantage.

The Swiss pair continued to put pressure on Cheng and Hughes in the second set, and they eventually closed out the match on a block by Huberli.

"We're disappointed with the result," Cheng said. "We didn't play our best volleyball today, and we made some uncharacteristic errors. We're going to have to learn from this and move on."

Hughes added: "We're grateful for the opportunity to represent our country at the Olympics. We'll take some time to rest and recover, and then we'll start preparing for the next tournament."

Brunner and Huberli, who are ranked No. 10 in the world, will face the winner of the match between Brazil's Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda Santos Lisboa and Germany's Karla Borger and Julia Sude in the quarterfinals.

The loss by Cheng and Hughes is a big blow to the United States' hopes of winning a medal in beach volleyball. The Americans have not won a gold medal in the sport since 2004, and they have only won one medal in the last three Olympics.

The United States still has two other pairs in the women's beach volleyball tournament: Alix Klineman and April Ross, and Emily Stockman and Kelly Claes. Klineman and Ross are the No. 2 seed in the tournament, and Stockman and Claes are the No. 9 seed.

The quarterfinals of the women's beach volleyball tournament will be played on Thursday. The semifinals will be played on Saturday, and the gold medal match will be played on Sunday.