RIO DE JANEIRO (Rio 2016 Olympic Games) - Three games into the Rio Olympics Women's tournament and Serbia have become the first European champion with the worst start to an Olympic Games in the last two decades. But Sonja Petrovic pledges to stay positive.

Although Ukraine started the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with a 1-2 mark, Olympics debutant Serbia have started with a 0-3 mark.

Last summer, they stunned France in the EuroBasket Women Final, and as a result secured direct qualification to the Rio Games. 

As Serbia chase their first win in Rio on Friday against China, Petrovic stopped by to talk to FIBA.com

FIBA.com: Can you reflect on Serbia's start to the Rio Olympics?
Petrovic: Obviously, 0-3 wasn’t the score that we were looking for especially because we had the first two games in our hands, and we allowed them to slip away. It’s a tough situation to be in, but that’s how you make yourself a champion. I am trying to stay positive and make sure that we stay together because if we are good among ourselves we can do better.

Serbian have lost to Spain, Canada, and the USA to start their Group B campaign 

FIBA.com: How come the European champion has such a poor start to the Olympics? You have lost to Spain, the USA, and Canada. Has the team lost confidence since last summer?
Petrovic: Coming here, you are coming as the European champions, but we had a fairy tale last summer basically. And coming here we had a lot of troubles during the season for most of the players. Some played too much coming really tired, other ones struggled during the season with a lack of minutes on their teams. We are still finding our chemistry, we were never the champions because of the quality, we were because of the chemistry that we have with each other. We are trying to make sure the bond is still there, and hopefully, we click back to where we can beat anybody.

FIBA.com: The USA and Canada are almost certain in the Quarter-Finals. Serbia will go up against China on Friday and Senegal on Sunday.
Petrovic: Coming here, we knew that China and Senegal were probably the opponents that we’ll have to beat to make sure that we are advancing to the Quarter-Finals. They are tough. They play a different style to European basketball. We’ll have to make adjustments in the game. We’ll probably need to change our game to beat them. These are three teams looking for one place in the Quarters. At the Olympics, there are no easy teams.

FIBA.com: As a team, are you finding the Rio Olympics more competitive than what you expected?
Petrovic: We lack the experience in big competitions. This is the first time that this team plays in this type of competition, prior to that this team played in the FIBA World Championship two years ago. This is a learning process for us.

FIBA.com: Is there any aspect of the game that Serbia needs to improve in order to win the next two games?
Petrovic: Rebounding has been a gray area for us, and it is one of the aspects that we need to improve for sure. Unlike other teams we play with a small lineup, but we have to make some smarter decisions on offence. You appreciate when you see your team-mate diving for the ball, it pushes you to make the extra effort. Rebounding has been our Achilles Heel.

FIBA