Friday’s victory was the 34th-ranked Puig’s second upset this week of a Grand Slam champion, having earlier routed Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza – victor of the 2016 French Open – 6-1, 6-1 in the third round.
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After two relatively straight-forward matches to open her tournament, the 22-year-old stepped up a gear or three with comprehensive wins over Garbine Muguruza and Laura Siegemund before seeing off Kvitova. The set would remain on serve until Puig scored a break late to take the opening set 6-4.
Monica Puig, of Puerto Rico, tosses her racquet and celebrates after winning the gold medal against Angelique Kerber, of Germany, during the final round at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016.
In the first women’s semi-final of the Games, Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig beat Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic for a spot in the gold medal match.
Puig becomes the first Puerto Rican woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal, let alone an Olympic Medal (all of the country’s previous medallists were won by men), and becomes the lowest-ranked woman to do so.
Puig, by contrast, had never made it beyond the quarter-finals in a Grand Slam tournament – and the odds were stacked against her.
Ranked No. 37 in the world, she had played only five matches against women ranked in the top 10 – winning one.
She recognized plenty of the words as fans belted them out.
After besting two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova in the semifinals, Puig vowed to win gold for her compatriots back home.
Undeterred by the pressure of a nation on her shoulders, Puig would hold to start the final set and then break for a 2-0 lead.
Puig, who has always actively supported her native Puerto Rico by using the hashtag #PicaPower on Twitter, says this win was for the people-not just for her.
Whether or not she can do it is hard to determine, as based on her form in Rio, there’s every chance that she can overcome the final hurdle.
“I’m living like a dream”, del Potro said after the match.
“She played in the doubles, and I know that she won the gold medal”. I was very anxious going into the match; we couldn’t really perform, and that’s the most painful part.
In 68-years of sending athletes to compete in the Olympics, Puerto Rico had won just eight medals and no gold before Puig’s breakthrough.
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Kerber was leading 40-30 and missed a chance to break Puig’s serve and make it 5-2, in a point that saw Puig dig out several tough shots as Kerber sought to put the game away. “This Olympics isn’t about me, it’s about Puerto Rico and I know how bad they want this”. The women’s doubles bronze match will see two Czech teams fight for a medal; that will take place on court 1 at approximately 1 PM ET.
