Monica Puig is a former Puerto Rican professional tennis player, who has competed on the WTA Tour since 2010.
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Date of Birth: |
27 September 1993 |
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Birthplace: |
San Juan, Puerto Rico |
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Residence: |
Chicago, Illinois, United States |
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Height: |
5'7" (170 cm)
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Weight: |
142 lbs (64 kg)
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Plays: |
Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
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Turned Pro: |
2010 |
Monica Puig was born on September 27, 1993, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Jose Puig and Astrid Marchan. Jose is Cuban American, while Astrid is Puerto Rican. Puig had a successful junior career. A notable achievement was winning the gold medal in the women’s singles at the Central American and Caribbean Games in July 2010.
She was also a finalist in the junior events at the Australian Open and the French Open. The Puerto Rican won her first WTA Tour matches in 2013 and was successful at the Grand Slam level. She reached the third round of the French Open by defeating future US Open runner-up Madison Keys before being knocked out by Carla Suarez Navarro.
This was followed by Puig’s best run at a Grand Slam at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. She triumphed against the fifth seed, Sara Errani, on her way to the fourth round at SW19. Puig narrowly missed out on the quarterfinal after a 6-4, 5-7, 1-6 loss to future US Open champion Sloane Stephens.
After a less successful 2015, Puig had the best season of her career in 2016. She began by making the final of the Sydney International, where she lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova. A few months later, she made another French Open third round, losing to Madison Keys.
However, the biggest highlight of Puig’s career came in August 2016 at the Olympic Games. After beating Polona Hercog in the opening round, the Puerto Rican beat 14th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before pulling off an extraordinary 6-1, 6-1 win against that year’s French Open champion Garbine Muguruza.
But Puig was not done there. She demolished Laura Siegemund by the same score in the quarterfinal. In the semifinal, Puig managed another upset victory against the two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in three sets. This set up a final against Angelique Kerber, who won the Australian Open and the US Open in 2016.
Yet, the German could not stop the Puerto Rican’s fairytale run. Puig triumphed in the final 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 to claim the gold medal and complete one of the most unexpected runs in tennis history. Puig’s fourth and last WTA final came in 2017 at the Luxembourg Open, which she lost in straight sets to Carina Witthoft.
At the 2018 Wuhan Open, she reached her sole WTA 1000 quarter-final. Puig was eliminated by Wang Qiang. Sadly, the cumulative effects of repeated injuries then cut the Olympic champion’s career short. After attempting to make a comeback in 2022 after nearly two years out, Puig announced her retirement in June of that year.
