Puig Adjusting To Highs And Lows Of Post-Olympic Life
WUHAN, China – Monica Puig is getting a crash-course in the propulsive nature of the tennis season. After a solid quarterfinal showing at the Toray Pan Pacific Open last week, Puig lost in the first round of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open on Sunday to Roberta Vinci, 6-3, 6-3.
On paper it was a standard result. Few would bat an eye at the sight of the No.15 player in the world knocking out the No.33 player in straight sets.
But nothing is standard for Puig these days. Not since her jaw-dropping run at the Olympic tennis event in Rio, where she defeated now World No.1 Angelique Kerber to win gold, capping off a week that saw her notch career-best win after career-best win. It’s been a whirlwind six weeks since then and the 22-year-old now finds herself between two worlds: one that continues to revel in the glory of gold and one that has relentlessly moved on.
“There’s been a lot of media attention, a lot of focus on just the Olympics,” Puig told reporters after the match. “It’s kind of hard when you have to focus on other things, other tournaments, and everybody keeps bringing you back to Rio.”
After becoming the first man or woman representing Puerto Rico to win Olympic gold, Puig was back on court two weeks later. With the spotlight on her in New York, she bowed out in straight sets in the first round of the US Open to Zheng Saisai.
“It’s a bit tough when you come off the biggest win of your career, the biggest tournament you’ve ever won, and all of a sudden you have to get back to training.
“I feel like Rio definitely drained me mentally and physically because it was a lot to take in. I wish I obviously would have had that time to full-on celebrate, and that would have been it. The tennis calendar isn’t that forgiving.”
Asked directly whether she wished she could have taken a time-out after Rio, Puig did not equivocate: Yes.
“A lot of gymnasts are doing Dancing with the Stars, all this and that,” Puig said with a laugh. “I’m in Wuhan, which is not bad. It’s not bad.
“It’s not something that I’m used to, winning something this big, then having to continue and keep going. I would have loved to celebrate. I would have loved to have some downtime, give my body a little bit of a breather to catch up with everything that’s happened.”
When asked whether she might take some consolation in other players’ ability to battle through a post-Slam winning slump, Puig singled out Angelique Kerber’s ability to get back on track as a good reason not to panic. She also emphasized one simple fact: she wouldn’t trade her gold medal experience for anything.
“It’s like a shock to the body and to everything else,” Puig said. “All of a sudden you’re just like, ‘No way did this just happen.’ I just had that one match in New York, then I came to Tokyo and I had a really good tournament. I think it’s just coming back to thinking about what you have to do, not getting overshadowed by what happened or anything.
“I bet [other players] must have been the same: going to sleep and thinking about everything just happened, that they won a Grand Slam. I think probably for Kerber it’s a little bit different now since she’s had two and so much success, so maybe she’s getting used to it.
“In terms of me, I never had this type of moment. It took me a while to go to sleep and actually calm my thoughts and not replay that moment over and over again. It’s still very new, still very fresh in my mind. I will officially always be labeled the ‘Olympic gold medalist’. I’m getting used to the title.”
Next up for Puig is next week’s China Open and then she will stay in China to play the Tianjin Open. Her goal is to finish the season on a good note and set herself up to be seeded at the Australian Open in January.
“I know when vacation time comes around, I’m not going to be thinking about tennis,” Puig said. “I’m going to turn off Twitter, Instagram. I am going to be like hiatus, out. Nobody is going to know about me for two weeks. I think it’s also healthy to just focus on myself, on the rest, what my body needs to recover, and to start a good pre-season.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
