Rio Olympics: Monica Puig wins first ever Olympic gold medal for Puerto Rico
Monica Puig, of Puerto Rico, tosses her racquet and celebrates after winning the gold medal against Angelique Kerber, of Germany, during the final round at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016. Credit: AP / Charles Krupa
Monica Puig won Puerto Rico’s first gold medal in any sport in Olympic history, upsetting Angelique Kerber in the women’s tennis singles final at the Rio Games.
Even before Saturday’s victory, Puig already was assured of being the first woman representing Puerto Rico to earn a medal of any color at any Olympics.
Puig is ranked 34th and is the first unseeded women’s singles gold medalist since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988.
Kerber was seeded No. 2, won the Australian Open in January, and was the runner-up at Wimbledon last month. She was trying to give Germany its first singles gold since Steffi Graf in 1988, but instead goes home with a silver.
Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic won the bronze.
