Monica Puig was already in the midst of a career-best season even before she hopped on a play to Rio de Janiero for the 2016 Olympic tennis event. A little over a year ago she fell outside the Top 100 and was struggling to win matches. This year she’s already back to to No.35, notching more match wins in 2016 than she had in her two previous seasons combined.
Despite her quiet rise through the rankings and improved strength and power, few would have tapped the 22-year-old for Olympic glory. But there she was on Saturday at the top of the podium in tears, flanked by two major champions whom she vanquished en route – she also beat a third in Garbiñe Muguruza – with Olympic gold dangling from her neck.
Puig made history for Puerto Rico in Rio. Not only did she become the first woman to ever win a medal for Puerto Rico, but she also won Puerto Rico’s first gold medal in its Olympic history.
WTA Insider caught with Puig on Monday after her life-changing win:
WTA Insider: Olympic Gold Medalist Monica Puig. How are you?
Puig: I don’t think that “Olympic Gold Medalist” I actually believe it because I keep repeating it to myself over and over again and I still can’t really believe what happened this past week.
WTA Insider: What went through your mind on match point?
Puig: Well I think it was pretty much everybody could see that I was just saying ‘Oh my God’ over and over, especially after such a tough match like it was. I extended my lead in the third set and she just started swinging away. I was like, I have to be really careful here because she has nothing to lose. I really had to be careful. She saved a couple of my match points and on that final one I just couldn’t really believe it was actually over.
WTA Insider: Did you actually allow yourself to think about the gold medal at all?
Puig: I told myself going into the match to just enjoy the moment. But I think after the first set I think I started to really come to grips about what was going to happen and maybe got a little bit carried away in the second set. In the third I just tried to keep myself as focused as possible. But when you go up 5-0 in the third set there’s no way in avoiding all the emotion that starts to come to the surface. Just trying to keep it down a little bit longer and then finally when you win it, it was everything that I hoped for and more.
WTA Insider: You were very contained with your emotions all week in Rio. The only time you really let some emotions out was when you went up 5-0 in the third in the final. Was this a conscious thing all week?
Puig: Yeah, I’ve been trying to work on it a little bit. Trying to stay really focused in my routines. Trying to be more mentally even throughout the matches.
I did a really good job of it in Florianopolis leading up to the Olympics and carrying it on through and just letting out the emotions when I really, really needed it and it’s been working. But there, when I went up 5-0 I just fired myself up because it just helped numb the nerves a little bit more so it was good.
WTA Insider: How do you put your 2016 into context? It’s been a fantastic season for you, even before Rio. This has been a career season. But when people ask you, ‘Monica, how did you do this,’ what do you say?
Puig: I told everybody that I was going to be really patient with myself this year. Obviously coming off a very disappointing 2015 season, trying to take it one tournament at a time even though it hasn’t been easy. I’ve had my let downs, I’ve had my weeks where I felt absolutely terrible.
But just trying to be as patient as possible because I knew that I was putting in the hard work and that something good was going to come out of it. I think coming slowly up the rankings very quietly, nobody has really talked about me until now. It just shows that I was ready for this moment and I think it was my time to shine and finally let the world know who I was.
WTA Insider: Is Olympic Monica different from Tour Monica? Do you think you can match that intensity outside of the Olympic setting?
Puig: Yeah, I think I can because in reality at the Olympics, whenever I stepped on court I was still competing, doing my job. The only difference was it was for an Olympic medal and I was staying at the Athlete’s Village. That was the only difference but my job didn’t change at any time. I know the tennis that I’m capable of playing. It was just a matter of time for me to believe it myself.
I know there will be weeks where I’ll lose in the first round and there’ll be weeks when I win couple of more rounds or get to the final or win, but there’s one thing that nobody can take away from me and that’s the Olympic title.
WTA Insider: Puerto Rico is going nuts. How does it feel to make history for Puerto Rico, to become the first woman to win an Olympic medal, the first athlete to bring home the gold?
Puig: I don’t think I’ve been able to process it very well just yet. I’m just really overwhelmed by the attention that I’m getting and all the well wishes and everything. It’s just incredible. I will be going back to Puerto Rico to celebrate it with them.
WTA Insider: That’s going to be an epic parade.
Puig: It’s going to be unbelievable! I want to take the time to enjoy this moment and embrace it all because you only compete in your first Olympics and win your first gold medal once. So I have to wait another four years to play the Olympics.
This, to me, is even more special than a Grand Slam because it’s so rare to have an Olympic gold medal. It comes once every four years. I know I will have several opportunities to win a Grand Slam, but this is one that doesn’t come four times a year. It just comes once. For me to grab it so early, it was a dream come true.
WTA Insider: You’ve always been very vocal bout your Puerto Rican pride. How does that shape you as a person?
Puig: I’m just so proud of where I come from. Every time I land in Puerto Rico I get tears in my eyes every single time because it’s so beautiful and I can’t believe that I was born in such an amazing island. Even though I wasn’t raised full time there I still went back to visit and spend some time with my family members there and get really surrounded by the culture that Puerto Rico has to offer. I’m just so proud of where I come from.
I’m never going to lose that spirit of being Puerto Rican. I’m going to represent them until the day I finish tennis and so on and so forth.
WTA Insider: Taking your week in Rio outside of the Olympic context, it was an incredible week. You beat the reigning Australian Open champion, the reigning French Open champion, and a two-time Wimbledon champion. Setting the Olympics aside, what does this mean for your individual tennis career?
Puig: I think I can say that I’m amongst the best out there. It’s not so much a matter of ‘if’ it was going to happen but ‘when.’
I’m just going to try and not put any pressure on myself to back this up in any way because I know what I did and I know that I’m extremely young. I still have a really long career ahead of me and there’s no rush to get anywhere.
I’m just going to enjoy the ride right now and work as hard as I can to come out to the US Open and continue to represent Puerto Rico and myself in the same graceful manner that I did at the Olympics. I know that more good things are going to come for me during my career, but there’s no rush for anything.
Hear more from Puig in the latest Dropshot Episode of the WTA Insider Podcast:
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
