_(48199058656).jpg) Puig at the2019 French Open | |||||||||||||||
| Native name | Mónica Puig Marchán | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country (sports) |  Puerto Rico | ||||||||||||||
| Residence | Atlanta,Georgia, US | ||||||||||||||
| Born | (1993-09-27)September 27, 1993 (age 32) San Juan, Puerto Rico | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Turned pro | 2010 | ||||||||||||||
| Retired | 2022 | ||||||||||||||
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) | ||||||||||||||
| Coach | Dorian Descloix | ||||||||||||||
| Prize money | $3,570,823 | ||||||||||||||
| Singles | |||||||||||||||
| Career record | 303–215 | ||||||||||||||
| Career titles | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 27 (26 September 2016) | ||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam singles results | |||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | 3R (2016) | ||||||||||||||
| French Open | 3R (2013,2016,2019) | ||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | 4R (2013) | ||||||||||||||
| US Open | 2R (2014,2018) | ||||||||||||||
| Other tournaments | |||||||||||||||
| Olympic Games | W (2016) | ||||||||||||||
| Doubles | |||||||||||||||
| Career record | 18–36 | ||||||||||||||
| Career titles | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 210 (25 May 2015) | ||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam doubles results | |||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | 2R (2018) | ||||||||||||||
| French Open | 1R (2014,2015,2016) | ||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | 2R (2016) | ||||||||||||||
| US Open | 1R (2013,2014,2016) | ||||||||||||||
| Team competitions | |||||||||||||||
| Fed Cup | 27–12 | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||
Monica Puig Marchán[a] (born September 27, 1993) is a Puerto Rican former professionaltennis player. She is the firstPuerto Rican in history to win agold medal at theOlympics while representingPuerto Rico, having done so in2016 at the women's singles event.[1] She is also aCentral American and Caribbean champion andPan American silver medalist.
Having turned professional in 2010, Puig won twoWTA Tour singles titles and sixITF singles titles. On 26 September 2016, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 27. On 25 May 2015, she peaked at No. 210 in the doubles rankings. At the2016 Rio Olympics, Puig won the gold medal, the ninth overall medal at the Games for Puerto Rico. With the feat, she also became the firstLatin American champion in the women's singles discipline and is the only unseeded female player to win the gold medal since the reintroduction of tennis in 1988.
During her career, Puig defeated top-ten playersSara Errani,Caroline Garcia,Angelique Kerber,Garbiñe Muguruza,Aryna Sabalenka andCaroline Wozniacki. She retired from the professional tour on 13 June 2022.
Monica Puig Marchán was born to aCuban American father, José Puig, and aPuerto Rican mother, Astrid Marchán.[2] Puig stated her paternal grandparents areCatalan.[b][3][4][5]
In 2007, she entered her first tournament at the Prince Cup, but withdrew from the qualifying draw.
In 2008, she started the season with a surprise run to the final of the Costa Rica Bowl (Grade 3) as a qualifier, losing in straight sets toEugenie Bouchard. She continued her good form, winning two out of three tournaments. Puig continued good results in small Grade-3 and-4 tournaments. In her first Grade-1 tournament inLexington, she defeated Charlotte Calhoun before going out toLauren Embree. She continued to participate in bigger tournaments, though not with as much success as she had in the smaller ones.
Puig had her breakthrough season in 2009; she started doing much better in the bigger tournaments. She reached her first Grade-1 final inCasablanca, losing to Mai Grage of Denmark. She continued playing consistently, highlights of the latter months of the year included a semifinal appearance at a Grade-B1 tournament in Tulsa, losing to Bouchard in three sets. In her next tournament, she won the doubles title.
In 2010, she continued her success at a higher level. Puig started the year reaching the final of the 32nd International Casablanca Junior Cup (Grade A), falling easily toSachie Ishizu of Japan. She then reached another final a week later at the Coffee Bowl (G1) losing toAn-Sophie Mestach of Belgium in straights. Puig followed that up with a semifinal appearance at a Grade-1 tournament inBarranquilla. Consistent results followed, before a huge Grade-A title at the 27th Copa Gerdau, defeatingJessica Pegula in the final. After a semifinal appearance at another Grade-A calibre tournament, she fell in the quarterfinals of theFrench Open. After that, she failed to advance past the quarterfinals of any of her tournaments until theUS Open, where she lost toYulia Putintseva. Puig finished the season with a flourish, falling in the quarterfinals ofOsaka (GA), the final ofMérida (G1) and the semifinals ofKey Biscayne (GA), both toLauren Davis.
In July, Puig won the gold medal in women's singles at theCentral American and Caribbean Games.[6] At theYouth Olympics inSingapore, she was the second seed in the singles event but lost in the first round toZheng Saisai of China, in straight sets.[7]
In January, she won the Traralgon International defeatingYulia Putintseva of Russia.[8] Puig was also in the juniors event of theAustralian Open. She qualified for the final but lost to BelgianAn-Sophie Mestach.[9][10] On February 20, Puig won the singles title in Surprise, Arizona defeatingLenka Wienerová, in straight sets.[11]
She received awildcard into the qualifying of theIndian Wells Open and defeatedAnne Keothavong in the first round but was then knocked out bySorana Cîrstea, in three sets.
In the juniors event of theFrench Open, she also qualified for the final but lost to TunisianOns Jabeur.
Puig won the silver medal at the Pan American Games, defeatingChristina McHale of the United States to advance to the gold medal round. She lost toIrina Falconi of the United States in the final.
In January 2012, Puig entered theAuckland Open, ranked 213 in the world, and won the first and second round of qualifying matches, but lost in the last round to the No. 145 in the world,Karolína Plíšková. On 16 January, she entered theAustralian Open qualifying draw ranked 209, and lost in the second round toKirsten Flipkens. At the $25k Andrézieux-Bouthéon tournament, she won two qualifying matches but lost in the first round toMagda Linette of Poland.
In the following month, Puig played on the qualifying draw of two WTA Tour events, in Bogotá and Monterrey, without being able to get past the first round of the main draw. She received a wildcard to play in theIndian Wells Open qualifying draw, but, in the second round, lost to world No. 66,Eleni Daniilidou. Her breakthrough came when she reached the final of the Poza Rica $25k tournament unseeded. The last two matches prior to the final included wins against tournament seeds No. 4 and 1, although she lost to second seedYaroslava Shvedova.
The second breakthrough of 2012 occurred when she won the first $50k event of her career atJoué-lès-Tours, France. Puig opened the first round by eliminating the top-seed and world ranked 87,Alexandra Panova. In the semifinals, she defeated An-Sophie Mestach, the same opponent to whom she lost in the 2011 Australian Open junior final.
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Puig began her season at theBrisbane International. After coming through qualifying, she reached the second round where she lost to fourth seedAngelique Kerber.[12] At theAustralian Open, Puig was defeated in the first round of qualifying byWang Qiang.
At theWTA indoor event in Paris, Puig lost in the final round of qualifying to Stefanie Vögele. Seeded eighth at the $100kMidland Tennis Classic, Puig reached the semifinal where she was defeated by top seed and eventual champion,Lauren Davis.[13]
In May, she played and won her first WTA final inStrasbourg, defeating Sílvia Soler Espinosa. This success took her to her highest WTA ranking 41st.
In October 2014, Puig won first place at the WTA Rising Stars Invitational inSingapore. Puig defeated Zheng Saisai in two sets.[14] At the end of the year, she was world No. 59.
In this same year, she also won the gold medal at theCentral American and Caribbean Games inVeracruz, Mexico representing Puerto Rico.[15]
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Puig started the season strongly inSydney. As a qualifier, she went on to defeatMagdaléna Rybáriková,Anna Karolína Schmiedlová,Samantha Stosur, andBelinda Bencic before losing in her second WTA Tour final toSvetlana Kuznetsova.
At theAustralian Open, she reached the third round, defeating Magda Linette andKristýna Plíšková before losing to the fourth seedAgnieszka Radwańska.She repeated her Australian Open success to reach the third round at theFrench Open, defeatingOlga Govortsova andJulia Görges, before losing to the 15th seedMadison Keys.
In theEastbourne International, Puig progressed as far as to the semifinals after beatingKristina Mladenovic. AtWimbledon she faced home playerJohanna Konta in the first round, in which Puig lost in two sets.
At theRio Summer Olympics, Puig won thewomen's singles gold medal by defeatingPolona Hercog,Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova,Garbiñe Muguruza,Laura Siegemund,Petra Kvitová, and, finally,Angelique Kerber. Puig became the second unseeded player to win a medal at the Olympics afterAlicia Molik had won bronze inAthens and the first athlete representing Puerto Rico to win a gold medal in any sport.[16][17] In Puerto Rico's Olympic history, Puig is the ninth sportsperson and the first woman to win an Olympic medal. She is the first Latin American representative to win the gold medal in singles and the second to win a medal, afterGabriela Sabatini won silver at the1988 Summer Olympics.[18] In November, Puig was presented the award for Best Female Athlete in Rio 2016 presented by theAssociation of National Olympic Committees (ANOC).[19][20]
She was not originally seeded at theUS Open, but after a withdrawal of Sloane Stephens, Puig became the 32nd seed. She lost in the first round to Zheng Saisai, and also in doubles withMariana Duque-Mariño toNicole Gibbs andNao Hibino, and concluded the season with a career best year-end ranking of No. 32.
Puig was unable to replicate her success throughout 2017 and fell out of the top 50 in June.[21] By losing in three sets toMirjana Lučić-Baroni in the first round of theUS Open, she concluded her 2017 season without advancing past the second round of anyGrand Slam orPremier Mandatory tournament. However, she did end the season on a high note by reaching her fourth career WTA-level final at theLuxembourg Open.
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Puig started the season at theAuckland Open where she lost in the first round to second seed and eventual champion, Julia Görges.[22] At theSydney International, she was defeated in the final round of qualifying byKristie Ahn. Puig beat Sam Stosur in the first round of theAustralian Open;[23] she lost in the second round to Kaia Kanepi.[24]
In February, Puig competed at theMexican Open and was defeated in the second round by qualifierRebecca Peterson.[25] At theIndian Wells Open, she lost in round two to 21st seedAnastasija Sevastova.[26] Puig had a great run at theMiami Open as she stunned second seed Caroline Wozniacki in the second round.[27] However, she was defeated in the fourth round by American qualifier Danielle Collins.[28] Seeded fifth at theMonterrey Open, Puig reached the quarterfinals where she lost to 2012 champion Tímea Babos.[29]
Puig began her clay-court season in May at theMadrid Open. She was defeated in the second round by tenth seed, two-time and eventual champion, Petra Kvitová.[30] Puig retired from her qualifying match in Rome at theItalian Open to Donna Vekić due to a right hip strain.[31] As a result of that injury, she withdrew from theInternationaux de Strasbourg and theFrench Open.[32]
Puig returned to action in July at theWimbledon Championships where she lost in the first round to 13th seed and eventual semifinalist, Julia Görges.
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Puig started her 2019 season at theAuckland Open where she lost in the second round to third seedHsieh Su-wei.[33] InSydney, she was defeated in the final round of qualifying by Aliaksandra Sasnovich. However, due toNaomi Osaka withdrawing from the tournament,[34] she entered the main draw as a lucky loser but lost in the first round toAnett Kontaveit.[35] Ranked 54 at theAustralian Open, she was eliminated in the first round by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.[36]
Playing for Puerto Rico in theFed Cup tie against Colombia, Puig won her match overMaría Herazo González. Colombia ended up winning the tie over Puerto Rico 2–1.[37] InAcapulco, she upset sixth seedMaria Sakkari in the first round.[38] She then retired during her second-round match againstWang Yafan due to food poisoning.[39] AtIndian Wells, she was beaten in the second round by 21st seed Anett Kontaveit.[40] At theMiami Open, she lost in the first round to Chinese wildcardWang Xiyu.[41]
Puig kicked off her clay-court season at theCharleston Open.
She missed theAuckland Open and theAustralian Open due to her undergoing right elbow surgery.[42]
Puig returned to the tour in August at theCincinnati Open and lost in the first round of qualifying to American wildcardKatie Volynets.[43] At theUS Open, she was defeated in the first round by Margarita Gasparyan.[44]
Competing at theFrench Open, Puig lost her first-round match to 2012 finalist and qualifier, Sara Errani.[45]
Puig ended the year ranked 105.
She made a comeback after two years at theMadrid Open where she lost toDanielle Collins in the first round, in straight sets.
Puig retired in June 2022 due to the cumulative effects of repeated injuries she sustained throughout her career.[46]
Puig has had multiple coaches in her career, including Alain De Vos (2008–2014), Ricardo Sánchez (2014–2015), Juan Todero (2015–2018),Kamau Murray and Othmane Garma (2019),[47][48] Philippe DeHaes,[49] and Diego Veronelli.[50] In August 2020, she announced the return of Juan Todero as her coach.[51] At the end of 2021, she announcedDorian Descloix will be her new coach[52]
Puig played one season ofWorld TeamTennis, making her debut in 2019 with theVegas Rollers for their inaugural season. It had been announced that Puig wanted to return to theVegas Rollers during the 2020 WTT season.[53]
Puig was in a relationship with baseball playerDerek Dietrich. The two met when he was playing for theMiami Marlins and she was invited to throw the first pitch; they started dating in early 2017.[54] In 2019, when Dietrich was playing for theCincinnati Reds, Puig served a first pitch during a game using a tennis racket.[55]
Puig became engaged to fellow tennis player Nathan Rakitt in 2021.,[56] and they got married on November 11, 2022.[57] on 1 February 2025, Puig and Rakitt announced they were expecting their first child.[58][59] Puig gave birth to a daughter on 30 July 2025.[60][61]
After retiring from tennis, Puig found a new passion in marathon running. She joined her then-fiancé, former Georgia Tech tennis player and avid runner Nathan Rakitt, for a run and enjoyed it, so much that they decided to sign up for the 2022 New York City Marathon. Puig was cheered on by Puerto Ricans and finished the New York marathon in just over4+1⁄2 hours. She and Rakitt got married in San Juan a few days after the New York marathon and planned their marathon running goals when they flew back to their Atlanta home. They plan to run the six major marathons by 2024 to earn the Six Star medal from the Abbott World Major Marathons. Needing to run a sub-3:30 marathon for both the 2023 Boston and London marathons, she reached out to the organizers of both marathons and got a waiver based on her being a pro athlete and her New York results.
In between her work with ESPN and the Tennis Channel doing live commentary in Spanish, Puig trains with COROS and coach Derek Dalzell to improve her endurance, pace, nutrition, and recovery.[62]
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | SR | W–L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | Q2 | Q1 | 2R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 1R | A | A | 0 / 6 | 6–6 | 50% |
| French Open | Q3 | 3R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2R | A | 3R | 1R | A | 0 / 7 | 7–7 | 50% |
| Wimbledon | A | 4R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | NH | A | 0 / 7 | 4–7 | 36% |
| US Open | Q1 | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 8 | 2–8 | 20% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 5–3 | 2–4 | 1–4 | 4–4 | 2–4 | 2–3 | 3–4 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0 / 28 | 19–28 | 40% |
Notes
| Result | Year | Location | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 2016 | Rio de Janeiro | Hard |  Angelique Kerber | 6–4, 4–6, 6–1 |
Mis abuelos son Catalanes ("My grandparents are Catalans")
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