Monica Puig has won Puerto Rico’s first ever Olympic gold medal after beating Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the women’s singles final.
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“It’s always tough”, Puig said of playing against the Top 5.
The Puerto Rican denied Kerber the chance to become the first German Olympic tennis champion since Steffi Graf in 1988.
Stay right here from 3 p.m. ET through the end of the match for live updates and highlights of the women’s gold-medal match from Rio.
“I’m in complete disbelief, complete shock”, she said as she held the tears back after the match. “I don’t know what possessed her – but she needs to carry it for the rest of her life”. If I would have stopped crying I would have probably started singing.
“With every match that passed, I continued to learn and continued to grow”. Puig added that she had to play some inspired tennis to beat her. The 22-year-old went to Rio with one tournament title to her name.
Ranked 34th, Puig was the undecided underdog against Kerber.
Kerber ensured a final-set bagel did not occur and Puig was made to toil in a marathon last game, saving six break points and wasting two match points before finally sealing the win when Kerber went wide with a forehand.
Yet the German – who required medical treatment after the first set – was unable to find an answer to an inspired opponent. “She had nothing to lose, she was going for it”.
Phelps took the lead in the third leg, the butterfly, before Nathan Adrian brought it home as the United States won ahead of Britain and Australia. By the time Puig arrived for her news conference, singer Ricky Martin had tweeted congratulations. I gave everything that I had.
In the aftermath of her victory, she struggled with the words of the Puerto Rico national anthem, admitting that her father Jose had emailed her the lyrics in the morning.
“I think that was just digging deep and trying everything that I could”, she said. I still have family in Puerto Rico and I have been back to visit quite a lot. “I have gotten more comfortable with it, but it comes with time”. “I just owe this one to them”.
The third set was all Puig, though.
The Spaniard, who has been struggling with injury since withdrawing from the French Open in May, came back from a set down to win 2-6 6-4 6-3 against the local favourite.
“He’s the favorite for sure”, del Potro said.
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“I’m living like a dream”. So when a chance to play for the USA and partner with Mary Joe Fernandez came, Gigi Fernandez felt she was making the smartest move. “There were a couple points here and there I wish I could have converted if I played a little bit better”. “She played in the doubles, and I know that she won the gold medal”. “I am satisfied after two and a half months … competing and without practicing”, Nadal said. “I’m wildly ecstatic. I can not believe how well she played”.
