Monica Puig: Soon tennis rackets instead of TV microphones?
Monica Puig, Olympic champion in Rio de Janeiro 2016, is once again planning her comeback after an elbow operation. In recent months, the woman from Puerto Rico has also made a name for herself as a TV expert.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Feb 20, 2022, 03:45 pm
In the summer of 2016, Monica Puig played the tournament of her life. And anyone who watched Puig on her way to Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro had to assume that the Puerto Rican would also storm towards the top of the world on the WTA tour. But: far from it. Puig has always struggled with injuries and only played three matches after an elbow operation in 2019.
Now Puig is back in training, aiming to return to the tennis circuit for the European clay court season, perhaps in Rome. She's also hoping for a few wildcards so she doesn't have to take her protected ranking at every tournament. However, she has not yet trained any serves, as Puig explained to the WTA website. That wasn't Monica Puig's forte anyway. It is all the more important that the service gets going before you return.
Puig in action at the US Open
Puig used the injury break for professional training: as a TV expert for ESPN International. The 28-year-old was in action for the first time at the US Open last summer. “Sometimes opportunities like this come your way. For me it was the right place and the right time.” But the task was not entirely trivial.
"It was a lot of work," Puig continued. “Now I appreciate the journalistic side more, the many hours that you have to invest. Journalists have to look at all matches, study statistics. I thought it was crazy for a player at a Grand Slam. But being a reporter for a major is another world. I doff my hat.”