Rio de Janeiro (dpa) – Two tennis stars stared with stony faces while Monica Puig, the world’s number 34 from Puerto Rico, cried with joy as she received her Olympic gold medal.
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Puig is the 34th-ranked tennis player in the world and Kerber is the 2nd-ranked player.
However, Puig was not going to let a gold medal slip through her fingertips, and eventually converted her third match point in a marathon seventh game, dropping to her knees in tears when the job was complete.
Monica Puig had said it on December 8 2015: ‘I want to win the gold medal at the Olympics’. Six of that total had come in boxing. “She played a really great week and beat a lot of top players”. She immediately flung her racket and went to collect the flag that she would parade across the court. “They really helped me believe and just showed me they were there for me, whether I was going to win or lose”.
‘It’s just fantastic – Puig said – I know my country really appreciates this, and I really wanted to give this victory to them. I wished it had sped up a bit more. “I heard some people singing and did know the words that were coming up next”.
“I can’t believe what I have achieved”.
“I’m living like a dream”, del Potro said after the match.
Kerber had cruised into the final without dropping a set as the second seed aimed to emulate Steffi Graf who was Germany’s last champion at the 1988.
He beat two-time major title victor Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon in June, then used all of his two metre frame to produce intimidating forehand after forehand that Djokovic couldn’t fend off a week ago. The two players then split the next four games to remain even at 4-4. The second-ranked Kerber won the Australian Open in January and lost to Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final in July.
“The whole match was just unbelievable high-quality tennis and it was just the moment of my life”, Puig said.
“It’s not the medal I wanted but it’s still a silver”. It’s still a special feeling. I knew she’s a great player and at the end she deserved it.
Shock win: Monica Puig of Puerto Rico reacts after defeating Angelique Kerber.
The US territory is $70 billion in debt and has been forced to look towards Washington DC to ease the financial pressure.
There is also a growing concern over the Zika virus, which has spread quickly through the island.
In July, US health officials reported that as many as 50 pregnant women per day had been infected, raising the risk of birth defects.
Neymar led Brazil into the semi-finals of the Olympics Saturday with his first goal of the competition to edge the third of a trilogy of grudge matches with Colombia in the past three years 2-0 on Saturday.
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The No. 2-seeded Murray earned a gold in singles and a silver in mixed doubles for Britain at the 2012 London Games.
