Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross won their first international tournament title since July 2014, taking the Rio Grand Slam on Sunday in their first event together since Walsh Jennings’ fifth right shoulder surgery in September.
Walsh Jennings, 37 and a three-time Olympic champion, and Ross, a 2012 Olympic silver medalist, went 7-0 this past week at Copacabana Beach, which will be August’s Olympic venue as well.
They dropped one set each in the quarterfinals and semifinals before sweeping Poland’s Kinga Kou0142osiu0144ska and Monika Brzostek XX-XX, 21-13 in Sunday’s final.