Carrying the insignia of Olympic champion is no easy task, to be able to conquer a title that can only be attained every 4 years can change any player’s life and Monica Puig knows and treasures this well. After acing Rio 2016 Puig’s life gave a 180-degree spin. The Puerto Rican player encountered new obligations she wasn’t accustomed to but she made her way through them.
“It was a hard transition, at that time I didn’t know how to deal with such pressures and such that came along with winning the gold. At this moment I feel confident and feel prepared to keep on competing and playing my best”, shared the Boricua, “it was a drastic change and my team and I learned from the moment our hits and mistakes so now we’re working on maintaining this game like I did in Doha and Dubai which were great tournaments”.
When in Doha Puig, made it to semifinals and fell against Danish Caroline Wozniacki and when in Dubai she only reached 3R defeated by Angelique Kerber.
Up until now her best result so far, in addition to the Olympic gold, is the Strasbourg title and, although she didn’t come out victorious, the final round in Sydney last year was a great performance. This year she is back in Acapulco for the third time, where she is more than welcomed back by fans that expect to see her again after Puig’s performance last year where she was cut short during the second round.
Monica has her heart set on the title “success, to me, is to play knowing that I’m giving out my best, and to learn from every play, not so much for the result, because as long as I’m always doing my best that what will lead me to success which is being a better player and the rest will follow”.
Puig’s life has being full of lessons, perhaps the most important one is to be patient, “I understand now that I have to be patient because good opportunities come within time; I will not always win every contest and that the “best player” title will not necessarily be mine forever, but one must be very assertive and keep training day after day to reach your goals. Knowing all this gives me peace of mind”. After working so much on such virtue serenity and patience is a quality the medalist values greatly “I like those who are calm, that know how to have fun, how to handle life’s stress; there’s nothing better than a person who smiles and spreads happiness. You never know, you might brighten someone who is having a depressing day with a smile and that is always important, to brighten your days”.
The player from Puerto Rico is enjoying the moment and has a mission in mind: “I’d like to be an inspiration for young people, a role model for them to see that if you work hard daily you can accomplish anything you desire”.
Monica is getting ready for her opening tournament match against 2011 France Open finalist Francesca Schiavone from Italy and will give her absolute best to snatch the Acapulco title along with Mexican fans’ hearts.
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