Olympic champion says goodbye to tennis: ‘Life has other plans’ | Tennis

In the past three years, Puig has struggled with injuries and had four surgeries, which prevented her from defending her title in Tokyo last summer. “It’s not an easy decision because I would have liked to have quit of my own accord, but sometimes life has other plans,” said Puig, who now wants to start working for a television channel. ESPN†

First gold medal ever

Puig won her country’s first gold medal at the 2016 Olympics. She defeated Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the final in Rio in three sets: 6-4 4-6 6-1. The Puerto Rican won one WTA title, in 2014 in Strasbourg.

Her Olympic title was surprising. Puig played the tournament as the number 34 in the world, Kerber was the global number 2. In September 2016, the Puerto Rican reached her highest position in the world ranking, the 27th place. At a grand slam, the current number 1171 in the world never made it to the quarterfinals.