“I have that “Boricua” fire in me”, Puig added, using a common term for Puerto Rico and the country’s inhabitants.
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Now there are four players remaining across two matches: Germany’s 2nd-seeded Angelique Kerber, who will play Puerto Rico’s unseeded Monica Puig in the Gold Medal Match; and the United States’ 7th-seeded Madison Keys, who will play the Czech Republic’s 11th-seeded Petra Kvitova in the Bronze Medal Match.
“She played her best tennis and one of her best matches in her career, for sure”, Kerber said after the match. “I ” m speechless”, Puig said, grinning after her win.
Puig was broken at the first time of asking, but hit straight back when Kerber put a forehand into the net.
Monica Puig became the first player from Puerto Rico to ever win a Gold medal by shocking Angelique Kerber on Saturday in Rio.
Kerber was ranked No. 2 in the world. In the first three of this year, she didn’t even make it past the third round, her ranking falling to 14th. “The court is very lively, there s a lot of wind, so it makes it hard to play”, said world number two Murray.
Kerber got an early break over Puig in the second set, but Puig broke back not long after to get the set back on serve. That set the foundation for the decider where Puig raced into a 5-0 lead before having to suffer for her place in history during a marathon seventh game. Puig also had 0 double faults compared to 1 committed by her German opponent.
Puig, 22, has never been beyond the fourth round of a Grand Slam competition with just one WTA title her name, but has caused a major upset in beating Australian Open champion Kerber 6-4, 4-6 6-1.
Earlier in the day, Petra Kvitova defeated Madison Keys of the U.S. to win the bronze medal in three sets, 7-5 2-6 6-2. Their last meeting was previous year in Canada, where Kerber had won in straight sets. It’s definitely one of the best days today so I hope I’m going to celebrate it.
Before Puig’s gold, Team Puerto Rico had amassed eight silver and bronze Olympic medals.
Rafael Nadal’s bid for a second Olympic singles gold medal ended with a thrill-a-minute semi-final loss to the resurgent Juan Martin del Potro. She is also the first female Olympian representing the Caribbean nation to earn a medal.
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“I didn’t expect to reach the final, beating Djokovic and Rafa”, del Potro said, “but I did, and I get a medal, and it’s wonderful for me”. “I congratulate del Potro on a great event for him”, said Nadal.
