Winning three consecutive Grand Slam titles, the lowest-ranked player truly deserved to claim the Olympic gold.

It is well known that the Olympics happen once every four years, making it very difficult to win a gold medal. For instance, Serbian ace Djokovic, with twenty-four Grand Slam titles and a double career Golden Masters, only won his Olympic title at age thirty-seven in Paris. Still, there are always players who surprise everyone by beating top contenders and taking the gold.

For example, such a scenario took place at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in Brazil. At that time, a relatively unknown player made a remarkable run on the tennis court and ultimately won the gold medal. Many fans said that her victory was well-deserved. So, who exactly was this player? Which top opponents did she overcome to win the Olympic title? Today, this article will take you through her story.

This player is Puerto Rican Monica Puig. In 2014, she won the Strasbourg International tournament, becoming the first Puerto Rican to claim a WTA Tour title. Despite this, Puig’s world ranking was not very high; when she competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics, she was ranked only 34th globally.

In the first round of the Olympics, Puig faced Slovenian player Polona Hercog, who had previously won a WTA singles title and was a strong competitor. In this match, Puig performed exceptionally well, allowing her opponent to win only five games and advancing smoothly to the next round.

In the second round, Puig’s opponent was Russian player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a former top 10 player with considerable strength. Puig dominated the match, winning convincingly with scores of 6–3, 6–2. Notably, she had also defeated Hercog with the same scoreline in the previous round.

In the round of 16, Puig faced Garbiñe Muguruza from Spain, who had just won her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros. What was expected to be a thrilling contest turned into a one-sided performance by Puig, who handed Muguruza two bagels and caused a major upset to reach the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, Puig’s opponent was German player Laura Siegemund. Perhaps buoyed by her dominant win over Muguruza, Puig swept Siegemund aside with two lopsided 6–1 sets to advance to the semifinals.

In the semifinals, Puig met Czech player Petra Kvitová, who had won two Grand Slam titles and was the second Grand Slam champion Puig faced during the Olympics.

In this match, Kvitová took the first set with a bagel. However, Puig bounced back by winning the second set 6–4, pushing the match into a decisive final set. In the decider, Puig showed clearer dominance, overturning the deficit to win 6–3 and advance to the final. Objectively, Puig was now just one step away from the gold medal. Her final opponent was German Angelique Kerber, who had recently won the Australian Open and was also a Grand Slam champion.

The ever-resilient Puig battled through a tough three-set match to defeat Kerber and claim the Olympic women’s singles gold medal, becoming the lowest-ranked player in history to win Olympic tennis gold. Since she defeated three Grand Slam champions on her way to the title, many fans consider her victory truly well-earned. What is your opinion on this? That concludes today’s tennis story; more to come tomorrow. (Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)