Kerber’s opponent in the final will be Puig, who would also be chasing history and will be looking to win first ever gold medal for her country in history.
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Puig, ranked 34th in the world, has just one WTA title to her name and has never progressed past the fourth round at a grand slam.
Puig dropped to her knees after securing victory as fans, who had chanted “si se puede” (yes you can) throughout the match, proudly waved Puerto Rican flags in the crowd. A 12-point fifth set, finished with a forehand victor and an ace gave Keys brief momentum, but Kvitova rallied back to win two of the next three games, both on-serve, to take the match. She was the favorite over Puig.
At times, her play was too aggressive – sending balls past the baseline or ripping shots into the net.
Keys is still medal eligible, however. Now, she’s reached the Olympic Gold medal match in Rio and become the first German woman to medal at the Games since Steffi Graf in 1992.
The unseeded and unheralded Puig capped her run of upsets with the biggest one of all Saturday, overpowering No. 2 Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 to become the Olympic champion.
Kerber has had a sensational 2016 that kicked off with a win at the Australian Open.
Instead, she squandered every opportunity and lost in two routine sets, 6-3, 7-5.
Perhaps the enormity of the moment finally reached Puig’s nerves in that seventh game: Serving, she fell behind love-40 before steeling herself and hitting winners again. He said he had never failed to catch up with the victor later to congratulate them, though.
“It was a very tough match and I just managed to turn it around in the end”, Murray told reporters. It’s about Puerto Rico, and I know how bad they want this,”Puig said in an Associated Press story (h/t Tennis.com)”. Kerber, now a game away from the win, sailed to three match points in the following game but was unable to convert any of them.
Kerber owns the 2-0 advantage over Puig, and Kerber has come to relish the spotlight as one of tennis’ best players.
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The No. 7-seeded Keys’ power-based game overwhelmed Daria Katsatkina of Russian Federation 6-3, 6-1 in a mere 53 minutes, thanks in large part to a 30-4 edge in winners.
