Monica Puig Talks About Her Difficult Year After Gold

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

A year after touching the sky at the Rio Olympics and being received as a hero in her country, the Puerto Rican tennis player Mónica Puig knows that she has not fulfilled all the expectations that had been generated by the gold medal that was hanged on Brazilian soil.

The victories on the professional circuit that predicted his victory in the Olympic final against the then world number one, the German Angelique Kerber, have not materialized. Puig is currently ranked number 70 in the WTA women's ranking, a far cry from the 27 that she reached in October last year, according to the International Tennis Federation.

"I know it has not been a very easy year, it has not been a very successful year, but I am moving forward," the tennis player told People en Español during a meeting with children in the framework of the US Open, which begins next Monday. In New York. "I hope I can get out of this hole"

Puig hopes that the US Open, the last of the major tournaments of the year, will serve to turn a season in which he has lost more games than he has won. "This tournament is for me [an opportunity] to continue fighting and improving, trying to do my best," he said.

www.instagram.com/p/BXu995alot2/?hl=en&taken-by=monicaace93

At 23, the young Florida resident has been a veteran of the circuit since her debut in a professional tournament in 2009 in Puerto Rico. Outside of the gold medal, the first in the history of the Isla del Encanto, her greatest successes date back to her triumph at the French tournament in Strasbourg in 2014 and having reached the third round of Rolando Garros in 2014.

Now she knows that being an Olympic champion has not only raised the expectations of her fans, but the way her rivals face her.

"Is not easy. After that, everyone is looking at you in a different way and they come onto the court with a little more punch,”he said. "But it's something I had to learn, go through this moment to get to [be able to get over it]."

Who stays by his side giving him support is his family, particularly his mother, Astrid Marchán, who is the one who transferred his love for the racket. These days, for the Big Apple is his company, said the tennis player, who did not want to reveal any detail of his love life.

"Thank God I have my mother here. We go out in the city and we are sharing, and for me it is very fun, "he said.

His hobby off the court?

"Spend time with my mom," he replied.