Monica Puig Marchán (born September 27, 1993) is a Puerto Rican former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. She is the first Puerto Rican in history to win a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

while representing

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, having done so in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

at the women's singles event. She is also a Central American and Caribbean champion and Pan American silver medalist. Having turned professional in 2010, Puig won two

WTA Tour The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...

singles titles and six ITF singles titles. On 26 September 2016, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 27. On 25 May 2015, she peaked at No. 210 in the doubles rankings. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Puig won the gold medal, the ninth overall medal at the Games for Puerto Rico. With the feat, she also became the first

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

champion in the women's singles discipline and is the only unseeded female player to win the gold medal since the reintroduction of tennis in 1988. During her career, Puig defeated top-ten players

Sara Errani Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. Errani is one of only seven women who have completed a career Grand Slam (tennis)#Golden Slam, Golden Slam in doubles. She is an Olympic Games gold medalist, a former ...

Caroline Garcia Caroline Garcia (, born 16 October 1993) is a French professional tennis player. She had a career-high WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 4 in singles and world No. 2 in doubles. Garcia was the 2022 WTA Finals – Singles, 2022 WTA Finals champi ...

Angelique Kerber Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 34 wee ...

Garbiñe Muguruza Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Venezuelan-born Spanish former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Asso ...

Aryna Sabalenka Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka (born 5 May 1998) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She is currently ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and is a former world No. 1 in women's doubles. ...

and

Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is an inactive Danish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, hold ...

. She retired from the professional tour on 13 June 2022.

Early life

Monica Puig Marchán was born to a Cuban American father, José Puig, and a Puerto Rican mother, Astrid Marchán. Puig stated her paternal grandparents are Catalan.

Tennis career

Junior years

In 2007, she entered her first tournament at the Prince Cup, but withdrew from the qualifying draw. In 2008, she started the season with a surprise run to the final of the Costa Rica Bowl (Grade 3) as a qualifier, losing in straight sets to

Eugenie Bouchard Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (; , ; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian professional tennis and pickleball player. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player repr ...

. She continued her good form, winning two out of three tournaments. Puig continued good results in small Grade-3 and-4 tournaments. In her first Grade-1 tournament in Lexington, she defeated Charlotte Calhoun before going out to Lauren Embree. She continued to participate in bigger tournaments, though not with as much success as she had in the smaller ones. Puig had her breakthrough season in 2009; she started doing much better in the bigger tournaments. She reached her first Grade-1 final in

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

, losing to Mai Grage of Denmark. She continued playing consistently, highlights of the latter months of the year included a semifinal appearance at a Grade-B1 tournament in Tulsa, losing to Bouchard in three sets. In her next tournament, she won the doubles title. In 2010, she continued her success at a higher level. Puig started the year reaching the final of the 32nd International Casablanca Junior Cup (Grade A), falling easily to

Sachie Ishizu Sachie Ishizu (, Ishizu Sachie, born 3 September 1992) is a former professional tennis player from Japan. Tennis career She was runner-up in the girls' singles event of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships and reached a highest ranking of No. 5 on ...

of Japan. She then reached another final a week later at the Coffee Bowl (G1) losing to An-Sophie Mestach of Belgium in straights. Puig followed that up with a semifinal appearance at a Grade-1 tournament in

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean region of Colombia, Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a popul ...

. Consistent results followed, before a huge Grade-A title at the 27th Copa Gerdau, defeating Jessica Pegula in the final. After a semifinal appearance at another Grade-A calibre tournament, she fell in the quarterfinals of the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

. After that, she failed to advance past the quarterfinals of any of her tournaments until the US Open, where she lost to

Yulia Putintseva Yulia Antonovna Putintseva (, ; born 7 January 1995) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 20 on 27 January 2025 and a doubles ranking of No. 76 on 17 March 2025. Puti ...

. Puig finished the season with a flourish, falling in the quarterfinals of

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

(GA), the final of Mérida (G1) and the semifinals of

Key Biscayne Key Biscayne () is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, located between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies south of Miami Beach and sout ...

(GA), both to

Lauren Davis Lauren Davis (born October 9, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. Known for her aggressive backhand, speed, and clay-court strength, she has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour and reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ran ...

. In July, Puig won the gold medal in women's singles at the

Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for 32 countries and ...

. At the

Youth Olympics Youth Olympic Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes aged 15 to 18 years old. Organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consistent with ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, she was the second seed in the singles event but lost in the first round to

Zheng Saisai Zheng Saisai or Zheng Sai-Sai (; born 5 February 1994) is a Chinese tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 34, achieved on 2 March 2020, and a doubles ranking of No. 15, achieved on 11 July 2016. In her career, she wo ...

of China, in straight sets.

2011: Junior Grand Slam finals in Melbourne and Roland Garros

In January, she won the Traralgon International defeating

of Russia. Puig was also in the juniors event of the

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

. She qualified for the final but lost to Belgian An-Sophie Mestach. On February 20, Puig won the singles title in Surprise, Arizona defeating

Lenka Wienerová Lenka Wienerová (born 23 April 1988) is a Slovak former tennis player. Wienerová won ten titles in singles and eleven in doubles on the ITF Circuit in her career. On 10 August 2009, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 128. On 2 ...

, in straight sets. She received a wildcard into the qualifying of the Indian Wells Open and defeated Anne Keothavong in the first round but was then knocked out by

Sorana Cîrstea Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea (; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. In singles, she achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 on 12 August 2013. In doubles, her career-best ranking is No. 35, which she reached on 9 March ...

, in three sets. In the juniors event of the

, she also qualified for the final but lost to Tunisian

Ons Jabeur Ons Jabeur (born 28 August 1994) is a Tunisian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of No. 2, achieved on 27 June 2022, making her the highest-ranked African and Arab tennis player in WTA and ATP ranking ...

. Puig won the silver medal at the Pan American Games, defeating

Christina McHale Christina Maria McHale (born May 11, 1992) is an American professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings are world No. 24 in singles and No. 35 in doubles. Known for an aggressive baseline game, McHale was recognized by ''The New Yor ...

of the United States to advance to the gold medal round. She lost to

Irina Falconi Irina Falconi Hartman (; born Irina Alejandra Falconi; May 4, 1990) is an Ecuadorian-born United States, American former professional tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 63, which she reached in May 2016. Her career-high in doubles ...

of the United States in the final.

2012: Reaching the top 200

In January 2012, Puig entered the Auckland Open, ranked 213 in the world, and won the first and second round of qualifying matches, but lost in the last round to the No. 145 in the world,

Karolína Plíšková Karolína Plíšková (; born 21 March 1992) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), holding the position for a total of eight weeks, and has been ...

. On 16 January, she entered the

qualifying draw ranked 209, and lost in the second round to

Kirsten Flipkens Kirsten "Flipper" Flipkens (; born 10 January 1986) is a Belgian tennis coach and a former professional player. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 13 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Flipkens has won one singles title on the WTA T ...

. At the $25k Andrézieux-Bouthéon tournament, she won two qualifying matches but lost in the first round to Magda Linette of Poland. In the following month, Puig played on the qualifying draw of two WTA Tour events, in Bogotá and Monterrey, without being able to get past the first round of the main draw. She received a wildcard to play in the Indian Wells Open qualifying draw, but, in the second round, lost to world No. 66,

Eleni Daniilidou Eleni Daniilidou (; ; born 19 September 1982) is a Greek former tennis player from the island of Crete. She is considered one of the best Greek tennis players of the Open Era, winning five singles titles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tou ...

. Her breakthrough came when she reached the final of the Poza Rica $25k tournament unseeded. The last two matches prior to the final included wins against tournament seeds No. 4 and 1, although she lost to second seed

Yaroslava Shvedova Yaroslava Vyacheslavovna Shvedova (; born 12 September 1987) is a Kazakhstani former professional tennis player. Before 2008, she represented her country of birth, Russia. She won one singles title and 13 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, plus o ...

. The second breakthrough of 2012 occurred when she won the first $50k event of her career at

Joué-lès-Tours Joué-lès-Tours (, literally ''Joué near Tours'') is a commune in the department of Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, central France. It is the largest suburb of the city of Tours, and is adjacent to it on the southwest. Population ...

, France. Puig opened the first round by eliminating the top-seed and world ranked 87,

Alexandra Panova Alexandra Alexandrovna Panova (; born 2 March 1989) is a Russian professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. She has a career-high WTA doubles ranking of world No. 30 achieved on 28 October 2024. She peaked at No. 71 in singles on 3 ...

. In the semifinals, she defeated An-Sophie Mestach, the same opponent to whom she lost in the 2011 Australian Open junior final.

2013: Entering the top 100

Puig began her season at the

Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...

. After coming through qualifying, she reached the second round where she lost to fourth seed

. At the

, Puig was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Wang Qiang. At the WTA indoor event in Paris, Puig lost in the final round of qualifying to Stefanie Vögele. Seeded eighth at the $100k Midland Tennis Classic, Puig reached the semifinal where she was defeated by top seed and eventual champion,

2014–15: First WTA Tour title, high ranking of No. 41

In May, she played and won her first WTA final in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, defeating Sílvia Soler Espinosa. This success took her to her highest WTA ranking 41st. In October 2014, Puig won first place at the WTA Rising Stars Invitational in

. Puig defeated Zheng Saisai in two sets. At the end of the year, she was world No. 59. In this same year, she also won the gold medal at the

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

, Mexico representing Puerto Rico.

2016: Breakthrough and Olympic gold medal, top 30

Puig started the season strongly in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. As a qualifier, she went on to defeat

Magdaléna Rybáriková Magdaléna Rybáriková (; born 4 October 1988) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. In her career, she won four singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour. Rybáriková reached the semifinals of the 2017 Wimbledon Champion ...

, Anna Karolína Schmiedlová,

Samantha Stosur Samantha Jane Stosur (born 30 March 1984) is an Australian former professional tennis player. She is a former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and ...

, and

Belinda Bencic Belinda Bencic (; born 10 March 1997) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 4 which she achieved in February 2020. Bencic has won nine career singles titles, including Tennis at the 2020 ...

before losing in her second WTA Tour final to

Svetlana Kuznetsova Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (born 27 June 1985) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as high as world No. 2 in singles and world No. 3 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Kuznetsova won 18 singl ...

. At the

, she reached the third round, defeating Magda Linette and

Kristýna Plíšková Kristýna Plíšková (; born 21 March 1992) is a Czech inactive professional tennis player. In her career, she won one singles title and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, with three titles on the WTA Challenger Tour (two in doubles). She a ...

before losing to the fourth seed

Agnieszka Radwańska Agnieszka Roma Radwańska (; born 6 March 1989) is a Polish former professional tennis player and current coach. She was ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), in July 2012. Radwańska won 20 WTA Tour sing ...

. She repeated her Australian Open success to reach the third round at the

, defeating

Olga Govortsova Olga Alekseyevna Govortsova ( (Volha Alyakseyeuna Havartsova); ; born 23 August 1988) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. On 23 June 2008, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 35. On 29 August 2011, she peaked at No. 2 ...

and

Julia Görges Julia Görges (born 2 November 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. A former top-ten singles player, she was ranked as high as No. 9 in the world on 20 August 2018, and was ranked inside the top 15 in doubles, peaking at world No ...

, before losing to the 15th seed

Madison Keys Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked as high as world No. 5 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Keys has won ten WTA Tour-level career singles ...

. In the

Eastbourne International The Eastbourne Open (also known as Eastbourne International, formerly Rothesay) is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as ...

, Puig progressed as far as to the semifinals after beating

Kristina Mladenovic Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. Her best singles ranking is world No. 10. She is a nine-time Grand Slam ...

. At

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

she faced home player

Johanna Konta Johanna Konta (born 17 May 1991) is a British-Australian former professional tennis player. Konta won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, along with eleven titles in singles and four in doubles on the ITF Women's Circuit. She was British No. ...

in the first round, in which Puig lost in two sets. At the Rio Summer Olympics, Puig won the women's singles gold medal by defeating

Polona Hercog Polona Hercog (, born 20 January 1991) is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings are 35 in singles and 56 in doubles. She has won five titles on the WTA Tour, three in singles and two in doubles. Hercog also has had ...

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (; born 3 July 1991) is a Russian professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 11 on 8 November 2021. Pavlyuchenkova has won twelve singles titles ...

Laura Siegemund Laura Natalie Siegemund (born 4 March 1988) is a German professional tennis player. Siegemund reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 on 29 January 2024 and has won fourteen doubles titles on the WTA Tour. She is a three-time Gran ...

Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová (; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 31 career singles titles, including two Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles ...

, and, finally,

. Puig became the second unseeded player to win a medal at the Olympics after

Alicia Molik Alicia Molik (born 27 January 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 6. Molik won a bronze medal in singles for Australi ...

had won bronze in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and the first athlete representing Puerto Rico to win a gold medal in any sport. In Puerto Rico's Olympic history, Puig is the ninth sportsperson and the first woman to win an Olympic medal. She is the first Latin American representative to win the gold medal in singles and the second to win a medal, after

Gabriela Sabatini Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini (; born 16 May 1970) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. A former world No. 3 in both singles and doubles, Sabatini was one of the leading players from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, amassing 41 titles a ...

won silver at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

. In November, Puig was presented the award for Best Female Athlete in Rio 2016 presented by the

Association of National Olympic Committees The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) is an international organization that affiliates the current 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Every two years, it gathers all it ...

(ANOC). She was not originally seeded at the US Open, but after a withdrawal of Sloane Stephens, Puig became the 32nd seed. She lost in the first round to Zheng Saisai, and also in doubles with Mariana Duque-Mariño to

Nicole Gibbs Nicole Gibbs (born March 3, 1993) is an American former professional tennis player. She won seven singles and five doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 25 July 2016, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 68. On 19 September ...

and

Nao Hibino is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 56 in singles and No. 43 in doubles by the WTA. Hibino has won three singles titles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour. She has also won nine singles and ...

, and concluded the season with a career best year-end ranking of No. 32.

2017: Loss of form

Puig was unable to replicate her success throughout 2017 and fell out of the top 50 in June. By losing in three sets to

Mirjana Lučić-Baroni Mirjana Lučić-Baroni (; ; born 9 March 1982) is a Croatian inactive professional tennis player. She enjoyed a meteoric rise on the WTA Tour in the late 1990s, during which she set various "youngest-ever" records. She captured the women's double ...

in the first round of the US Open, she concluded her 2017 season without advancing past the second round of any Grand Slam or Premier Mandatory tournament. However, she did end the season on a high note by reaching her fourth career WTA-level final at the Luxembourg Open.

2018

Puig started the season at the Auckland Open where she lost in the first round to second seed and eventual champion, Julia Görges. At the

Sydney International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...

, she was defeated in the final round of qualifying by

Kristie Ahn Kristie Hyerim Ahn (born June 15, 1992) is an American former professional tennis player. In her career, she won seven singles and two doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 30 September 2019, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 8 ...

. Puig beat Sam Stosur in the first round of the

; she lost in the second round to Kaia Kanepi. In February, Puig competed at the Mexican Open and was defeated in the second round by qualifier Rebecca Peterson. At the Indian Wells Open, she lost in round two to 21st seed

Anastasija Sevastova Anastasija Sevastova (born 13 April 1990) is a Latvian professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 in October 2018, after reaching a Premier Mandatory final at the China Open. Sevastova has won four sin ...

. Puig had a great run at the Miami Open as she stunned second seed Caroline Wozniacki in the second round. However, she was defeated in the fourth round by American qualifier Danielle Collins. Seeded fifth at the Monterrey Open, Puig reached the quarterfinals where she lost to 2012 champion Tímea Babos. Puig began her clay-court season in May at the Madrid Open. She was defeated in the second round by tenth seed, two-time and eventual champion, Petra Kvitová. Puig retired from her qualifying match in Rome at the Italian Open to Donna Vekić due to a right hip strain. As a result of that injury, she withdrew from the

Internationaux de Strasbourg The Internationaux de Strasbourg (formally known as the Strasbourg Grand Prix) is a professional women's tennis tournament held in Strasbourg, France. The tournament has been organized in May since its inception in 1987 and serves as a warm-up eve ...

and the

. Puig returned to action in July at the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

where she lost in the first round to 13th seed and eventual semifinalist, Julia Görges.

2019

Puig started her 2019 season at the Auckland Open where she lost in the second round to third seed

Hsieh Su-wei Hsieh Su-wei (; ; born 4 January 1986) is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. A former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in Doubles tennis, doubles with nine Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles, she is rega ...

. In

, she was defeated in the final round of qualifying by Aliaksandra Sasnovich. However, due to

Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 25 weeks, the first Asian player to hold the ...

withdrawing from the tournament, she entered the main draw as a lucky loser but lost in the first round to

Anett Kontaveit Anett Kontaveit (; born 24 December 1995) is an Estonian former professional tennis player. She was WTA rankings, ranked as high as world No. 2 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which she first achieved on 6 June 2022 to become the highes ...

. Ranked 54 at the

, she was eliminated in the first round by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Playing for Puerto Rico in the

Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...

tie against Colombia, Puig won her match over María Herazo González. Colombia ended up winning the tie over Puerto Rico 2–1. In

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

, she upset sixth seed

Maria Sakkari Maria Sakkari (, ; born 25 July 1995) is a Greek professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, which she first achieved on 21 March 2022, making her the highest-ranked Greek player ...

in the first round. She then retired during her second-round match against

Wang Yafan Wang Yafan (; ; born 30 April 1994) is a Chinese professional tennis player. On 7 October 2019, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 47. She peaked at No. 49 in the doubles rankings on 15 February 2016. In her career, she has won ...

due to food poisoning. At Indian Wells, she was beaten in the second round by 21st seed Anett Kontaveit. At the Miami Open, she lost in the first round to Chinese wildcard

Wang Xiyu Wang Xiyu (; ; born 28 March 2001) is a Chinese professional tennis player. She reached a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 49 on 9 January 2023, and a best doubles ranking of No. 98 on 19 August 2024. Wang became junior world No. 1 on ...

. Puig kicked off her clay-court season at the

Charleston Open The Charleston Open, currently sponsored by Credit One, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in America with a $1,064,510 purse. The t ...

2020

She missed the Auckland Open and the

due to her undergoing right elbow surgery. Puig returned to the tour in August at the Cincinnati Open and lost in the first round of qualifying to American wildcard Katie Volynets. At the US Open, she was defeated in the first round by Margarita Gasparyan. Competing at the

, Puig lost her first-round match to 2012 finalist and qualifier, Sara Errani. Puig ended the year ranked 105.

2022: Comeback and retirement

She made a comeback after two years at the Madrid Open where she lost to

Danielle Collins Danielle Rose Collins (born December 13, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She has reached career-high WTA rankings of world No. 7 in singles and No. 79 in doubles. Collins has won four singles titles, including a WTA 1000 titl ...

in the first round, in straight sets. Puig retired in June 2022 due to the cumulative effects of repeated injuries she sustained throughout her career.

Coaching

Puig has had multiple coaches in her career, including Alain De Vos (2008–2014), Ricardo Sánchez (2014–2015), Juan Todero (2015–2018), Kamau Murray and Othmane Garma (2019), Philippe DeHaes, and Diego Veronelli. In August 2020, she announced the return of Juan Todero as her coach. At the end of 2021, she announced Dorian Descloix will be her new coach

World TeamTennis

Puig played one season of

World TeamTennis World TeamTennis (WTT) was a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973. The league's season normally took place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA would ...

, making her debut in 2019 with the Vegas Rollers for their inaugural season. It had been announced that Puig wanted to return to the Vegas Rollers during the 2020 WTT season.

Personal life

Puig was in a relationship with baseball player

Derek Dietrich Derek Richard Dietrich (born July 18, 1989) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Miami Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, and Texas Rangers. Prior to playing professi ...

. The two met when he was playing for the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

and she was invited to throw the first pitch; they started dating in early 2017. In 2019, when Dietrich was playing for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

, Puig served a first pitch during a game using a tennis racket. Puig became engaged to fellow tennis player Nathan Rakitt in 2021., and they got married on November 11, 2022. on 1 February 2025, Puig and Rakitt announced they were expecting their first child.

Marathon running

After retiring from tennis, Puig found a new passion in marathon running. She joined her then-fiancé, former Georgia Tech tennis player and avid runner Nathan Rakitt, for a run and enjoyed it, so much that they decided to sign up for the 2022 New York City Marathon. Puig was cheered on by Puerto Ricans and finished the New York marathon in just over hours. She and Rakitt got married in San Juan a few days after the New York marathon and planned their marathon running goals when they flew back to their Atlanta home. They plan to run the six major marathons by 2024 to earn the Six Star medal from the Abbott World Major Marathons. Needing to run a sub-3:30 marathon for both the 2023 Boston and London marathons, she reached out to the organizers of both marathons and got a waiver based on her being a pro athlete and her New York results. In between her work with ESPN and the Tennis Channel doing live commentary in Spanish, Puig trains with COROS and coach Derek Dalzell to improve her endurance, pace, nutrition, and recovery.

Career statistics

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Singles

Notes * Grand Slam performances source

Olympic final

Singles: 1 (gold medal)

Notes

References

External links

* * *
Rio 2016 Olympic Tennis Event: Women's Singles Bracket

Monica Puig: Profile at Rio Olympics Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puig, Monica 1993 births Living people Puerto Rican people of Cuban descent Puerto Rican people of Catalan descent Sportspeople from San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican female tennis players Tennis players at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics Tennis players at the 2011 Pan American Games Tennis players at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for Puerto Rico Olympic tennis players for Puerto Rico Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Puerto Rico Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in tennis Tennis players from Miami Pan American Games silver medalists in tennis Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Puerto Rico Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Puerto Rico Competitors at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in tennis Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games 21st-century Puerto Rican sportswomen

Early life

Tennis career

Junior years

2011: Junior Grand Slam finals in Melbourne and Roland Garros

2012: Reaching the top 200

2013: Entering the top 100

2014–15: First WTA Tour title, high ranking of No. 41

2016: Breakthrough and Olympic gold medal, top 30

2017: Loss of form

2018

2019

2020

2022: Comeback and retirement

Coaching

World TeamTennis

Personal life

Marathon running

Career statistics

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Singles

Olympic final

Singles: 1 (gold medal)

See also

Notes

References

External links