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Ex-Olympic champion Monica Puig retires from tennis / Photo: © AFP/File
Ex-Olympic champion Monica Puig retires from tennis
Former Olympic tennis champion Monica Puig confirmed on Monday her retirement from the sport, saying her "body had enough" after four surgeries in three years.
Puig was the first Puerto Rican to win an Olympic gold medal in any sport when she shocked then world number two Angelique Kerber of Germany in the final at the 2016 Rio Games.
"Over the past 28 years tennis has been my constant. It has given me some of the most thrilling and memorable experiences I could have ever asked for," she wrote on social media.
"But sometimes good things come to an end. Today I announce my retirement from tennis. After a tough three year fight with injuries and four surgeries, my body had enough."
During her career Puig won two titles, also winning in 2014 in Strasbourg.
She reached a career-high WTA ranking of 27, weeks after her win in Rio.
But plagued by injuries, the 28-year-old Puig has not won a match since reaching the quarter-finals in Luxembourg in October 2019.
She attempted a comeback in Madrid last April but lost in the first round, and retired in the first set in her opening match in Saint-Malo. She worked as a television pundit at the French Open this year.
P.A. Mendes--JDB
