WTA Madrid: Monica Puig back on tour after three surgeries
The 2016 Olympic champion in Rio de Janeiro, Monica Puig , made her comeback at the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid after a break of more than a year and a half.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit:
May 01, 2022, 03:24 pm
Monica Puig is back on the women's tour: German tennis fans in particular should still have dubious memories of the Puerto Rican, as the surprise winner at the time prevented Angelique Kerber from winning gold in the final of the Olympic tournament in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, after a three-set defeat had to be content with the silver medal against the Caribbean islander. The then 23-year-old looked forward to a great tennis future.
Subsequently, however, Puig was not really able to keep her big promise - in 2017 she reached a final at the indoor hard court event in Luxembourg, where she had to admit defeat to the German Carina Witthöft in two rounds. After that it was over with the sporting highlights for the Central American and in 2020 the injury misery began, which resulted in a total of three operations on the elbow and shoulder.
"I feel good on the pitch"
At the WTA Tour 1000 tournament in Madrid, the time had finally come and the former world number 27. made her comeback after a break of more than one and a half years. Even if this was lost on Friday 5: 7 and 0: 6 against the American Danielle Collins, who was ranked sixth, Puig was more than happy after the game: "I think this is the first time that she has met me to smile after a loss. After three surgeries, I didn't even know what to do."
"By a miracle I'm back, but my bionic arm is still struggling," joked the now 28-year-old in a video message on Twitter after the opening match. She still needs time to really get her shoulder back to 100 percent, and according to the doctors, she also has to deal with painful pain for a few more months. However, according to Puig: "I feel good on the pitch."